


No More Time Traveling

by MeganRosenberg



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Prison, Protective Rick, Sexual Assault, Swearing, Time Prison, Time Travel, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-10 18:48:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 45,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11697723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganRosenberg/pseuds/MeganRosenberg
Summary: Rick and Morty get caught time-traveling and face a harsh sentence in time prison, an unforgiving, cruel, and violent place. They learn the hard way that time travel is not something which should be used lightly.





	1. Chapter 1

xxxxxx

Chapter 1

xxxxxx

"Stop! Put your hands in the air!" A stern voice ordered as Morty struggled to keep up while running after his grandfather. They were on a foreign planet, being chased through a field - an activity which was unfortunately becoming sort of a routine for Morty and his grandfather. All Morty wanted was to just go home, finish his homework, and get a good night's sleep for once. Of course, as usual, sleeping through a whole night with all of his homework completed and neatly packed into his backpack seemed to be a dream that wasn't ever going to be a reality for him. Sleep and schoolwork were a thing of the past.

As they ran, Morty glanced nervously toward Rick, looking for guidance from his grandpa. The men chasing them had weapons and were asking them to stop running. Morty didn't know how long they should keep ignoring them. Getting caught didn't seem like the best result in this situation, but neither did getting shot. If they were outnumbered and out-gunned, maybe listening to these people wasn't such a bad idea. At some point, it would be smarter for them to surrender, before they were too dead to make that choice.

"Run, Morty!" Rick yelled to him when he noticed his grandson staring with concern in his direction. "We just gotta lose them long enough to get through a portal without them following!"

Morty gasped frantic breaths as he continued running on protesting legs. He didn't understand what he and his grandfather had done wrong this time. They broke rules on various planets all the damn time, but as far as Morty knew, they hadn't really done anything this time. This quest had actually been extremely tame and uneventful up until right now.

They didn't kill anyone or release any maximum security prisoners, hadn't smuggled anything onto or off of the planet, never tried to overthrow the government... Hadn't released any plagues... They hadn't even been stealing or selling anything illegal. All they'd done was travel back in time long enough to move Rick's vehicle, which he'd parked illegally in the original timeline. All they were doing was trying to avoid a parking ticket. They weren't doing anything illegal... They were preventing themselves from doing so. He couldn't understand why they were being pursued by people who seemed like cops when they hadn't done anything wrong.

"Who are they, Rick!?" Morty breathed as he tried to keep up. His feet hurt and his lungs burned. They'd been running too long, and Rick's stride was so much larger than his. He really had to push himself to not fall behind, and the cops were running just as fast as they were. They were making absolutely no progress distancing themselves from the men who pursued them. "Why are they chasing us? What did we do!?" Morty wondered.

Rick sighed as he kept running. "They're time police, Morty. Really strict motherfuckers. We absolutely do not wanna get caught by these guys, Morty. There's a reason I don't use time travel under most circumstances. There's a lot of people out there very opposed to it, particularly these New Xelnar fuckers."

With a frantic huff, Morty continued running. He knew it was a bad idea to travel through time for something as trivial as getting Rick out of a parking ticket, and he'd told Rick that too. Now they were on the run, and it didn't seem like they were going to get out of this very easily. Morty's overworked lungs burned. His legs ached, and his heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest.

"Stop! Now!" One of the many people chasing them ordered again. "Cease running or we will be forced to open fire!"

Morty whimpered as he kept running. He didn't want to be shot, but he trusted that Rick would know when to give up and when to keep fighting. His grandfather had kept him alive this long, so he must have known what he was doing... Even though the threat of being shot would have made Morty stop for sure if he had been alone, he kept running.

A small shriek escaped Morty's lips as the sound of a laser gun being shot echoed through the field. He shrunk down and glanced toward Rick, who was still running. "Rick!" Morty cried out. He was beginning to doubt that his grandfather wasn't going to get them killed. "Maybe we should stop!"

"Keep running, Morty!" Rick called back. "You don't want to get arrested... Not here."

Morty shrunk down again and winced as he heard another gunshot. He wondered if the laser gunshots being fired toward him and Rick right now killed people as easily as regular bullets... Or maybe they killed people even more than bullets did. People survived regular gunshots all the time. Laser guns were still too new of a concept for Morty to know just how serious being shot by one could be. He figured he'd rather not find out the answers to all of his laser-gun questions firsthand though.

"Come on, Morty, keep up!" Rick grabbed his grandson's wrist and pulled him along.

"I can't run that fast!" Morty gasped as Rick practically dragged him along. "I'm gonna fall! Slow down!"

"Can't, Morty!" Rick called out as another laser shot through the air and evaporated a nearby shrub. "We gotta go faster. We're like five seconds from fucking dying, Morty."

Morty continued running even as his legs felt like jello and his lungs felt like they were on fire. He knew he couldn't keep up with this for much longer, but seeing how worried his grandfather seemed to be about being caught made him feel pretty concerned too. If Rick would risk being shot, getting arrested on this planet must have been a pretty big deal.

It wasn't until more of the men showed up in front of them, cornering them, that Rick finally skidded to a halt. Morty stopped alongside him, nearly tripping over his own feet as he desperately looked around and wondered how they were going to get out of this.

Morty breathed in and out loud, exhausted, painful breaths as he looked around himself. There were quite a few officers surrounding them, and they all held the same kind of laser guns which Morty now knew were at the very least capable of decimating innocent plants. All of their guns were pointed right at Morty and his grandfather.

"Hands behind your head." A stern voice ordered. "Lace your fingers. You're under arrest."

Morty's mouth dropped open in shock as he watched Rick roll his eyes, sigh, and put his hands behind his head in surrender. Did he not have a plan to get out of this? He was just going to give up? That was it?

With shaking hands, Morty complied as well, putting his hands on the back of his head and maintaining eye contact with Rick, hoping his grandpa would do something crazy to get them out of this at the last minute like he usually did. Rick didn't seem like he had a plan though. Morty frowned. Were they really going to get arrested this time? It seemed so...

"Lace your fingers together!" The voice behind Morty sounded pretty angry as a second officer pushed Rick to his knees and grabbed the old man's arms, bringing them down behind his back and cuffing his wrists together. "You! Lace your fingers together. Now!" The officer talking to Morty barked angrily.

"What?" Morty breathed out as he turned toward the voice. He could feel himself shaking as the cops yelled at him, and as he was unable to figure out what exactly they wanted him to do. He was surrendering, just like Rick. What more did they want? What had he not done that Rick had?

"Turn back around!" One of the cops screamed. "Lace your fingers together!"

Morty turned back to face away from the man and kept his hands on the back of his head, but he still wasn't sure what it meant to lace his fingers together. "I-I don't know what you want..." He stuttered.

"Get down on the ground!" The voice urged as Morty felt rough hands practically tackling him down to the hard, dirt ground.

Morty winced as he landed. Even though his brain told him to just hold still and let the man arrest him, the fear in his heart begged him to fight back as the officer on top of him jerked his arm violently behind his back and shoved him painfully against the dirt.

"Stop!" Morty pleaded as he tried to yank his arms out of the officer's grip. The guy was being too rough. Morty hadn't planned on fighting this. He was going to let them arrest him. He didn't feel he had a choice... But they were being so violent. It was instinctual for him to push back.

"Hold still." The officer demanded. "Stop resisting."

Morty cried out a pained wince as he wriggled one arm free and pressed it uselessly against the ground in an attempt to drag himself upward. "I'm not resisting! Get off me!" He felt himself shaking as the officer's hands shoved him harshly against the ground.

"Morty!" Morty glanced up toward Rick who was not fighting at all as the officers pulled him up to his feet and patted him down, taking everything out of his lab-coat's pockets. His hands were cuffed behind him and he seemed much more calm than he should have given the situation. "Don't fight them, Morty... Calm down." Rick advised.

Morty inhaled a few shaking breaths as he lay face-down against the dirt and stared at his grandfather. Calm down? That was easier said than done after this guy had just tackled him for no reason. Even so, he could tell struggling wasn't getting him anywhere. It was just making things worse.

He was just about ready to comply when he felt the officer place his hand heavily on the back of his head, pressing his cheek roughly against the earth as he snapped the cuff around one of his wrists. At the feeling of the hand pressing his head against the ground to hold him still, Morty began to panic again, and his panic increased even more when the cop shoved his knee painfully against the boy's back to hold him down even more securely.

There was pretty much no force needed to arrest him. Morty was generally very easy-going and gave up without a fight almost always. The more forceful these men became, the more scared Morty felt. Then he fought back and the officers became even more forceful. This was a never-ending chain.

"Let me up!" Morty screamed in a panicked, shaking voice as he thrashed his body as best as he could, wriggling his wrist out of the officer's grip and flinging his arms and legs out desperately. "I'm not resisting... I'll go with you. I won't fight... You're hurting me... Please!" Morty was almost crying now. Even when he'd held still, the officer hadn't become less rough.

"Get me the taser." The officer hovering over Morty ordered one of his friends.

Morty whimpered and began fighting even harder as he heard Rick pleading with the cops a few yards away. "No, no no no no... Don't hurt him... Y-you don't need to tase him... He's just scared. He's a dumb kid... Morty-" Rick drew Morty's attention. "Morty, don't fight... They won't hurt you. We're just getting arrested..."

Morty frowned, but at his grandfather's suggestion, forced himself to hold still besides his frantic, panting breaths. Getting arrested sounded like a pretty significant issue, and the cops had already proven that they didn't mind getting rough with very little reason behind it. He remained as still as he could manage as the officer snapped the other cuff onto his other wrist and dragged him up to his feet.

"You better learn to cooperate with the law, sonny. You're lucky you're just kid. I'd have tased you otherwise. Most officers won't be so forgiving." The cop growled as he dragged Morty toward where his grandfather stood. His hands around Morty's arms were gripping him so tightly, but Morty ignored it and held still. He hadn't meant to resist arrest. Things had just happened so fast. Everything was confusing and terrifying. It was instinctual to not just lay there while someone practically attacked him.

Before long, Rick and Morty were being loaded into the back of a sort of hover-craft vehicle. Their cuffs were locked to a bar behind a bench they were seated on, the vehicle's back door was closed, and they were driven away.

Still shaking slightly as he sat next to his grandfather, Morty inhaled a trembling breath. He was really scared, even more than usual. No matter how much trouble his grandfather got him into, they weren't usually arrested. Any other time, Rick's portal gun was pretty much their get out of jail free card, but the cops had taken it. They had no way out.

"What's going to happen?" Morty spoke in a small voice.

Rick shook his head. "We're goin' to intergalactic time prison, Morty. These people don't fuck around with their laws and take it very personally if you don't take their bullshit rules as seriously as they do. There's not really gonna be any way to argue out of this one, Morty. You're gonna want to stay close to me."

Morty gulped as he stared with wide eyes back at his grandfather. Rick didn't scare easily, so the fact that he'd blatantly told his grandson to stick close made Morty fear just how dangerous this place was going to be. Rick rarely showed any glimmer of protectiveness toward his grandson, so specifically warning him in advance about the danger ahead was alarming. "W-what's it like there?" He wondered, almost not wanting to know.

"Pretty much a free-for-all." Rick explained. "It's not like the prisons you see on tv where everyone gets their own cell and all that shit, Morty. The guards put a sort of bracelet thing on each prisoner - it fits snug so you can't take it off. It's like an ID thing - to keep track of who's who, but it's a control thing too. They can shock or drug you with it with the push of a button, Morty, and they don't usually waste time asking questions before they do it either. Beyond that, you just mingle with the other prisoners and hope no one wants to beat the shit out of you - because the guards generally won't stop them. Their little shock armbands aren't as good of a training technique as they like to think they are. Murderers are still gonna murder. Rapists are still gonna rape."

"Wh-" Morty started, but couldn't even articulate a response right away.

"If you were a rapist, would you let getting electrocuted one time keep you from raping, Morty?" Rick stared down at him and raised his eyebrow. "If you liked to murder people, would you let one tiny little shock keep you from following your murderous dreams?"

"I-" Morty shook his head slightly and shrugged. What kind of a question was that? "I don't know... I..."

"Exactly." Rick said back. "They'll shock other prisoners while they're kicking your ass, and that'll get them to stop in that moment, but it just makes 'em pissed off, so they come after you in a dark fucking corner the next time, with friends to back 'em up. The guards are a fucking joke."

Morty stared at his grandfather with his mouth hanging open in shock. "If... If they care so much about laws, why wouldn't they care if their prisoners beat each other up?" He wondered.

Rick shrugged. "Once you break their laws, they have a shit load of disdain for you. Sure, they have rules that the prisoners aren't supposed to fuck with each other, but no body really gives a fuck. Kinda funny really, that they put their fuckin' rules on a pedestal but they go right out the god-damned window whenever it's something none of the rule-enforcers give a shit about. That's the way these bureaucrat-types are, Morty. They stick to their rues like a fucking religion, but they don't really give a fuck about anyone. It's all about being able to say they followed the procedure, not about being anything less than a fucking sleaze when it comes to being a decent fucking person."

"We have to figure out how to escape, Rick... Wh- Do we not get a trial or something?" Morty gasped. If people in the prison weren't really required to be nice to each other, this was going to be a nightmare. Morty was small and knew from experience that he was an ideal target for bullies, and Rick had a way about him where he tended to piss people off a lot. That could be really dangerous in a prison, where other inmates had probably already formed some kind of hierarchy. "W-we just get sent to prison, Rick? No questions asked?" Morty stuttered.

"We get a trial, but we don't get to be present for it... And I can already tell you we're gonna be found guilty." Rick noted.

"This isn't fair!" Morty shook his head. "All we did was move your car!"

"Rules are rules, Morty." Rick shrugged. "Doesn't matter if it's bullshit. We're not in charge here."

"W-well, what are we gonna do, Rick?" Morty asked in a breathless voice. He was feeling more and more panicked with each passing moment. He'd really hoped he could avoid ever going to prison in his whole life, or at least hold off until adulthood.

"Don't freak out... I'll get us out of this mess, Morty." Rick promised as he leaned over toward his grandson and whispered softly. "You're just gonna have to give me some time... I have a plan, but I've gotta be careful executing it while being watched... So stick close to me, lay low, and wait."

xxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

xxxxxx

Chapter 2

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Morty followed close behind Rick as they were led into a building for processing. Huge, muscular guards stood all around, scowling in Rick and Morty's direction, almost silently daring them to try anything. Their hands had been uncuffed, but they were too closely watched to try anything. Morty felt quite trapped right now, and very fearful. There did not seem to be an obvious way out of this problem at the moment, and with each passing second, they were getting dragged down even further. They no longer had access to Rick's portal gun or laser gun. Even his flask and screwdriver had been taken away. They had nothing to work with. That fact, and all Rick's stories about how violent this place would be had Morty feeling pretty on-edge.

"This process is quick, simple, and painless so long as you cooperate." A human-like creature who wore a badge illustrating that he was the director of the prison informed them as they were led inside. His voice was cold and robotic. He'd probably explained this exact same process hundreds of times before. "We'll search you for any contraband - and that means anything and everything - you aren't allowed to bring anything in at all. Nothing. Then you'll be fitted with a monitor bracelet, you'll shower, and be given your uniforms. From there, you can go wherever you choose inside. Walk through the detectors and then undress." The creature ordered.

Morty frowned and gulped as he looked over toward his grandfather who was already making his way toward the detector. Morty wondered what exactly it was meant to detect... When Rick didn't seem worried about undressing in front of these people, it made Morty a little less hesitant, but he still felt quite nervous. He stepped through the detector machine and paused as the director explained more.

"There are few rules here, but the rules we have are each significant. Each prisoner is here for violating time laws and nothing more, and is therefore entitled to a certain degree of protection. You are not to hurt or kill any other prisoner. No one owns anything here, so there are no rules regarding theft. Participating in harming or killing another prisoner, or in holding someone against their will or sexual assault against another prisoner will result in your bracelet being activated with either an electric shock or drug, the strength of which is dependent upon the severity of your crime." The director glanced in Morty's direction. "Undress." He said again.

Rick had already undressed. Morty looked toward him uncertainly until he nodded, silently reassuring his grandson that this was okay. Reluctantly, Morty stepped out of his shoes, socks, and jeans and then took off his shirt. He kept his underwear on. He didn't know these people, and the last officers from this planet he'd dealt with before coming here were needlessly rough.

"Completely, please." The director ordered as he looked down at Morty. "No one's going to hurt you. This is the procedure for everyone who enters the prison, for the safety of all prisoners and guards. It's relatively non-invasive and painless... And is required."

Morty glanced back toward Rick. "Go ahead, Morty. I've been through this before. It's nothing."

With a frown, Morty stepped out of his underwear and covered himself with his hands until a man holding a thick, plastic bracelet approached him and grabbed his wrist. The man put the bracelet around his arm, pressed a few buttons on it, and snapped it closed. Somehow it was just the right size so Morty couldn't squeeze out of it.

"I'm going to search you for contraband." The man who'd snapped the bracelet on his arm told him. "Open your mouth, please."

Morty glanced over toward his grandfather. Rick's had already complied to the request and another guard was feeling around in his mouth with a gloved hand. Morty wanted so badly to run away, but he had nowhere to go. Rick was giving into this so easily. That had to mean escape wasn't going to be something that could just happen by running.

Opening his mouth reluctantly, Morty continued watching Rick as he felt the man in front of him stick his fingers in his mouth. As the man stretched out his lips and cheeks and checked under his tongue, Morty watched the other guard turn Rick around and lightly kick his feet apart before groping around between the man's legs.

With widening eyes, Morty shrunk down, shoving the groping hand away from his mouth and getting himself away from this guy before it was too late. He scrambled toward the back of the room, as the door was blocked and he had no way out.

"You've got to let him search you." The director instructed as he took a step toward Morty who was backing himself into a corner.

"No!" Morty gasped as he shook his head. "Not like that..."

"It's okay, Morty." Rick promised. "See, I'm already done. It's quick and painless. They're not trying to be creeps. It's not sexual. It's seriously no more than ten seconds."

"I'm very gentle." The guard promised.

Morty shook his head again as he looked around at all the people in the room with him right now - the director, Rick, two guards, and three other people who just sorta stood around near the wall. "No..." Morty refused again.

"It's required." The director's voice was stern as he took another step forward. "We cannot risk anyone smuggling anything in. That's how people get killed. Surely you can appreciate the necessity."

Morty's breaths began to sound and feel frantic and panicked as he shrunk away from the approaching man. He shook his head as he felt tears stinging his eyes. Everyone in the room was staring at him. "Get away from me!" He screamed as he backed himself into the corner as much as possible.

"Activate his bracelet." The director shrugged. "He doesn't need to be willing."

Morty gasped a choked whimper as he put his hand around the plastic bracelet and pulled at it. It was very securely attached around his wrist.

"Morty, it's okay." Rick promised. "Don't shock him or anything. It's okay... We'll- I'll convince him to calm down... Just... Don't activate the bracelet."

"Rick, no." Morty shook his head as he stared toward his grandfather. "I'm not smuggling anything. I promise. Tell them I'm not smuggling anything. Don't let them... Please..."

"I'll take you somewhere private." The guard who'd searched his mouth offered, giving Rick a few-second-long stare before looking toward the director. "That okay?"

The director nodded and sighed in annoyance. "Make it quick. I haven't got all day. Activate the bracelet if he doesn't cooperate."

The guard grabbed Morty with a quick hand, wrapping long fingers around the boy's upper arm and dragging him toward the door.

"No!" Morty screamed as he struggled to break free. "I didn't do anything wrong! Please!" He felt his voice shaking as tears filled his eyes.

"Calm down." The guard ordered in a low voice. His grip didn't loosen.

"Stop!" Morty begged as he was dragged toward the door. The guard was much stronger than Morty. The boy didn't stand a chance. "Let me go! Please!" Morty cried. Why did this guard want to take him somewhere private? This was going to be even worse than he'd originally feared. "Rick, help me!" He pleaded.

"He won't hurt you, Morty. Just stay calm. You'll be okay." Rick promised as Morty was dragged out of the room and into another.

This room was dark until the guard flipped on a switch. Morty squeezed his eyes shut for a moment when the light flooded the room and then scrambled back into the corner and put his hands over his crotch, shielding his dignity as he breathed in frantic, terrified breaths.

He felt devastated that Rick hadn't made a single effort to save him from this. What would this man do to him? There were certainly no witnesses now. If things did escalate even further than Rick was okay with, he wasn't here to stop the guy. Morty was completely defenseless.

"Please... Please don't hurt me. Don't do this... I'm not trying to sneak anything in. I promise." Morty begged as tears began spilling down his cheeks as he looked around the huge guard's body and toward the door. He knew he couldn't escape. The guard was blocking the only exit. "We didn't even do anything wrong. I'm not sneaking anything in. I promise... Please don't..."

"I won't." The guard told him.

Shaking his head, Morty pressed himself against the wall. "Stay back... Don't touch me." He ordered in a terrified voice.

"I'm not going to." The guard said.

Morty sniffed back tears as he stared at the guard. "W-what?" He didn't understand. He thought the guard was taking him into a separate room so he could hurt him - so he could not only search him in a horrible, humiliating way, but even take it a step further than what was just procedure. Morty could think of no other reason for the man to suggest they go into a separate room.

"It's the rules around here - that everyone has to be searched - with the detector first, but that's not fool-proof, so we also require a visual, external search of the body and internal cavity searches of the mouth and rectum." The guard explained.

Morty shook his head and sniffed back tears.

"But I won't search you that thoroughly." The guard added. "You're just a child. And I see you seem to be almost an unwilling participant in your grandfather's antics. I know the man... I've dealt with him before. I won't subject you to something you're clearly so uncomfortable with. I have a bit of empathy somewhere deep down inside me... But you can't let the director know I didn't follow procedure. Okay?"

Morty stared at him for a moment before agreeing. "Okay..."

"Let's go back." The guard ordered, taking Morty's upper arm in his hand and leading him back toward the door. They made their way back inside. "All clear." The guard spoke to the director, who nodded back without emotion.

"Wasn't so bad, hm Morty?" Rick quickly winked toward him.

Morty didn't reply. His grandfather must have known that this guard wouldn't really subject him to a full search. That's why he hadn't tried to help him.

"Come on. This way." The director instructed as he led them toward a large room full of shower heads. About five other people were already in there - three humans and two... other creatures. One looked insect-like, and the other lizard-like. "The showers will run for about ten minutes. The door will open afterward. Walk through the air driers and find your uniforms in the lockers with numbers corresponding to the numbers on your bracelets. They aren't locked. If your uniform is ever missing, simply inform a guard and you'll be issued another."

Morty followed Rick into the showers and the door slid closed behind them.

As Morty glanced around at the other people in the shower, he noticed a few looking back at him. He looked away and stepped under the water, which was cold. Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself and hid behind his grandpa as best as he could.

"It really wasn't that bad, Morty." Rick spoke up. "The cavity search, I mean."

"Maybe not for you." Morty pouted. "Just because you don't care about stuff like that doesn't mean no one does. I'm not okay with that... I won't ever be."

Rick shrugged. "That's fine, Morty. I could see you weren't. That's why I let Zachary take you to the other room. He and I go way back. He's on your side. That's the one thing you can count on around here. He can't do much, but he'll do what he can."

Morty lathered soap in his hair and across his chest, rinsing it off in the cold water and shivering more. "I-is the water always this cold?" He wondered.

"Yeah." Rick shrugged. "You'll get used to it. You only get to shower every other day though, so it's not even something to get hung up over."

Morty winced as he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and realized all five of the people who'd already been in here when they arrived were closing in on them. He spun around to face them as Rick did the same.

"What do you want?" Rick scowled at the three men and two aliens as he put his hand against Morty's chest and pushed the boy slightly behind him. All five of the people closing in on them were huge, and had rather sinister-looking smirks spread across their faces.

The man in the forefront, an older guy, grinned, showing a missing tooth in the middle of his smile as he and insect-looking guy grabbed at Rick, wrapping their huge hands around his arms and forcing him to his knees.

"Rick!" Morty cried out as a third man grabbed him in terrifyingly strong hands. This man's arms were so thick they were literally as wide as Morty's torso. He easily threw Morty over his shoulder, holding him down with one huge hand pressing his lower back painfully downward as he scowled down at Rick.

"Let him go, asshole." Rick demanded as he pulled uselessly at his arms. The two people grabbing him were almost as huge as the one who held onto Morty. Morty could see his grandfather struggling, but could also tell he couldn't budge even an inch.

Morty whimpered as he kicked out and pushed his hands against his aggressor's back. "Put me down!" He screamed. He was absolutely horrified. The guy's hard hand held him down, pressing his back harshly so that his stomach and pelvis were crushed against the man's shoulder. Morty couldn't forget that every single person in the showers was 100% naked. He felt extremely vulnerable right now.

"What do you wanna do first, boys?" One of the guys smirked down at Rick. "Kinda exciting getting a couple newbies around here..."

"He's been here before." Another of them noted as he nodded toward Rick. "Didn't have his little friend with him last time though." He added as he reached out and ran his hand down Morty's thigh, from his backside all the way to the back of his knee, as the other man held him tight.

"Stop!" Morty pleaded as he kicked out again and desperately reached his hands back in an attempt to pry the man's thick hand off of his back to free himself. No matter how hard he struggled, the rough hand pressing against his back did not move even half an inch.

"Your beef's with me, pricks." Rick noted as he was still held down and unable to come to Morty's aid. "Why don't you leave the kid out of this."

"Oh, really?" One of the men sounded shocked. "Don't tell me you've started giving a shit about people, Rick." He laughed.

"I got a proposition for you." The man holding onto Morty started as he placed his free hand lightly on Morty's backside.

Morty whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut as tears dripped from them and onto his captor's back. He continued struggling, but it was all but useless.

"I'm just gonna be blunt here, Rick. You and me have a score to settle. This has been a long time coming. I'm surprised to see you back here since you clearly thought you were so fucking smart and above the law last time, but here you are... And the fact that you've got this kid here with you..." The man laughed and shook his head as he moved his hand lightly over Morty's exposed skin. "Well, that's just fucking brilliant now, isn't it? Now we get to hit you were it hurts. I mean, why wouldn't we? He's obviously a friend of yours, and he looks so damn vulnerable that I practically can't believe our fucking luck. This can kinda make up for the past... If there's anything better than punching you in the fucking face, I think it'd be each of us having our way with your little buddy here, and making you watch."

Morty choked out a sob as he kicked uselessly and pounded his fists against his captor's back. "Get off of me!" He screamed. The man's heavy hand still pressed against his backside, squeezing his flesh in a way that was both embarrassing and painful. "Please! Stop! Let us go..."

"But," Morty's assailant added as he all but ignored Morty's pleas. "I can go easy on him... I can half my time with him at least - the others might agree to this too... if you'll take his place. You suck my dick, and depending on how good you do, maybe I'll feel satisfied enough to not fuck little mini-Rick here quite as long and hard. How's that?"

Rick stared up at the guy as though he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Morty looked away from his grandfather and squeezed his eyes shut.

Morty sobbed as he felt the man's hand kneading at his skin. He squirmed under the guy's grip, trying desperately to get away, to get the disgusting hands off of him.

"You better decide quick." Morty's aggressor spoke. "His little dick rubbing against my shoulder's really starting to make me hard... I gotta put this somewhere."

Another pained, terrified sob tore through Morty's throat before he could help himself.

"I'll do it." Rick offered. "Just put him down. Leave him out of this... I'll do anything you want."

"Rick, no!" Morty cried. He couldn't let Rick make that choice. Morty desperately wanted out of here, but not at Rick's expense.

"It's okay, Morty." Rick spoke. "This shit bothers you a lot more than it bothers me. You're just a kid... You shouldn't have to deal with shit like this. Let him go... Let him go, and I'll do absolutely anything you ask."

Morty didn't know if they were planning to let him go or not. The next thing he knew, the man holding tightly onto him was falling toward the shower's floor. Morty felt himself crushed under the man's heavy body for a few short seconds before he felt his grandfather's hands tugging him out from under the guy by his arms.

"You okay?" Rick wondered.

Morty looked around. All five men were lying twitching on the floor and the shower's door was sliding back open. Zachary, the guard who knew Rick stepped through the door. He was holding some kind of keypad device and looked somewhat shocked.

Finally, Morty felt safe, or at least as safe as he could in this terrible place. He threw himself toward Rick, who still knelt down on his knee. Morty didn't care that he was naked. He didn't care that Rick was. He only cared that his grandpa represented safety. He wrapped his arms around the man's waist and buried his face against Rick's chest as he sobbed.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

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"We don't tolerate behavior like that." Zachary breathed as he stared at Rick. The guard's eyebrows were furrowed and he looked a bit shocked. "I should have checked in sooner... Rick, I'm so sorry..."

"Don't fuckin' worry about it," Rick growled as he held his grandson close. Morty was sobbing into his chest and hugging his grandfather with trembling, desperate arms. Rick had never seen him so terrified, and of course he couldn't blame the kid. What had just happened was horrifying even to Rick. He wasn't one to get too upset over sexual things. He didn't like people telling him what to do or forcing anything on him, but he would generally be just as upset if they made him do anything he didn't want to do, such as cleaning a house or doing any other kind of work. To Rick, rape was just one of many annoying things someone might inflict on someone else. He didn't feel any more violated by it than he would by having someone do anything else against his wishes. He did not, however, tolerate anyone hurting his grandson in any way. Sex wasn't something that Rick feared in much of any capacity, but Morty clearly did not feel the same.

"We'll assign you a different shower schedule," Zachary offered. "We've got a certain time-slot we reserve for anyone who is a common target of other prisoners. We can't watch everyone constantly - the threat of possibly being electrocuted or drugged isn't enough to put a stop to things like this."

Rick shook his head in frustration and tightened his hug around Morty, who still clung to him desperately. The boy was sobbing so hard and loudly that Rick could barely even upkeep his conversation with Zachary. "You've gotta get them to let Morty go home," Rick raised his voice so Zach could better hear him. "I made him go along with me when I misused time-travel. He didn't do anything wrong. You can't sit back and do nothing... He doesn't deserve this. This is my mistake - not his. Just have me serve the time and I won't even try to fuck anything up. I'll cooperate fully if you just let him go home."

Zach shook his head. "There's nothing I can do, Rick. If it were up to me, I'd let you both go, but I don't get to decide these things. I'm not in charge here and you know it."

"So what do you expect me to do from here?" Rick scowled up at him. "Five different people just attacked us. You probably only pissed them off by subduing them. You think they're just gonna leave us alone? I don't care what happens to me," Rick told his friend. "But I care what happens to him." He nodded down toward his grandson.

"I'll tell the other guards to keep a watch out. That's all I can do." Zach frowned and shrugged. "I can appeal to them to free you both, or your grandson only at the very least, but I don't want you to get your hopes up. He time-traveled too. You can't prove he wasn't just as at fault as you were. The rules are strict around here and you know that. You can't expect me to solve all of this, no matter how much I'd like to. I'm just a guard. I can't do anything, and I don't want you to expect that anyone else will be jumping at the opportunity to make you two the exception to the rule. You know how rules are around here..."

Rick sighed loudly and shook his head. "Let's get dressed at least for now... Morty-" He looked down toward his grandson and pulled the boy carefully back away from his chest. "Let's get dressed, okay?"

Morty sniffed back tears and nodded as he let Rick lead him through the air drier and toward the locker room. Zach followed them.

"I'll show you around, if only for the sake of being on watch for anyone up to anything. You probably remember all this from before, Rick, but I think you could benefit from my company for the moment. No one will bother you with me there, and I can try to help you find a relatively safe space that's more highly monitored by the guards," Zach offered as Rick and Morty got dressed.

The uniforms consisted of a pair of grey pants, a white t-shirt, and a grey jacket which matched the pants. Morty's was a tad too big. As Rick buttoned up his own jacket, he noticed Morty rolling up his sleeves and pants of his uniform in order to make them fit him.

Zach used a key to unlock a cupboard full of blankets. He took two out, held them in his arms and led the way out into the general prison population.

Rick walked along behind him.

Morty jogged up next to Rick, gripping his shirt and shrinking down close. Rick put his arm around Morty's shoulders as they walked. He did not blame Morty at all for being nervous in this setting, especially not after what had just happened, but a part of him almost wanted to not allow Morty to make himself appear so obviously weak and scared in front of the other prisoners. Morty was already an easy target just because he was so small.

"I know where a certain group tends to hang out.," Zach mentioned as they walked. "I usually try to steer people who are being ganged up on toward them. They're a friendly group. You'll be less likely to have problems with other inmates if you're with a larger group."

They walked along, through sort of indoor streets. The complex was huge and included buildings within the building. Rick had already been here before. He was familiar with this place already. They continued on until they reached a large building. Inside, stairs led up to an open area with several tables surrounded people playing cards. Beyond that was a small library.

Zach nodded to several prisoners as they passed. He seemed to be friends with several of them, as they smiled when they saw him.

"Rick, Morty-" Zach spoke as they entered the library. "These are the people I told you about."

Rick looked around the area. A large alien who looked to be made of some kind of blue jelly looked up from a book he had been reading. A tall, muscular, fair-skinned man who had simply been sitting on the couch with his eyes closed opened them and looked in Rick's and Morty's direction. Next to him, on the long couch, a person who looked human besides for having a third arm and purple skin offered a smile.

"This is Glarcx." Zach gestured toward the blue alien. "Martin." He gestured toward the human. "And Tony." He introduced the purple, three-armed guy.

"Happy to meet you both." Tony nodded. "I think I've seen you before." He narrowed his eyes in Rick's direction.

Rick rubbed the back of his neck. He was fairly certain he'd kicked this guy's ass once - when he was here last time. Tony hadn't done anything wrong. He'd just been in Rick's way while he was trying to escape. Rick had to either get rough with the guy, or stay trapped here.

"Men, Rick and Morty are in desperate need for some friends around here," Zach spoke as he handed Morty a blanket and directed him toward a sofa in the corner. "Morty, why don't you get some sleep. You'll be safe in here. This is the only door, and I'm not letting anyone through it."

Morty looked up toward Rick with question in his eyes. "Go ahead," Rick commented with a nod.

Morty complied, making his way over toward the sofa and sitting down on the end furthest from everyone else. He wrapped the blanket tightly around himself and curled into a tiny ball, but didn't lie down. He stayed sitting up and staring silently ahead.

Zach stepped closer to the three men in the library, bringing Rick along with him and speaking in a low voice Morty couldn't hear. "As you all know," Zach started, "I'm not fond of how this prison is run. I won't pretend like I think things here are always fair, because they aren't. But this is where I work, and I have to enforce rules, to an extent. There's only so much I can do to balance things out and keep people safe. Men, I want you to help me with this..."

"With what exactly?" Martin wondered as he glanced toward Morty and then back toward Zach.

"Well, you can see that Morty's just a kid," Zach explained. "I don't think it's right that he's imprisoned here with adults, but I can't do anything about it. I want you all to help look after him - he's self-sufficient enough, as he's a human teenager, but he's small and very vulnerable in a place like this. I just want you to watch his back. Rick too, but especially Morty. They were here all but ten minutes before a group attacked them in the shower."

"You've got to stop sending new prisoners right into the showers with everyone else." Glarcx frowned. "Or at least check who's in there first. Was it Xirth and his friends?"

"Yes." Zach looked down as though ashamed. "I should have expected something would happen... I had other work to be done and didn't check in to see how things were going right away. I'm not in charge around here..."

"I know." Glarcx sighed. "It's not your fault this stuff happens... We really need a prison reform around here. A tiny child like that shouldn't be in here with people like Xirth."

"We'll look out for him," Tony promised.

"Thank you." Zach offered a small smile and then turned toward Rick. "I'll try to keep guards watchful for you both. Let me know if you have any concerns I might be able to help with. I'll do what I can."

Rick nodded and turned back toward Morty, making his way over to the couch and sitting down next to the boy. "You uh... you okay, Morty?" Rick asked as soon as everyone else in the library had gone back to what they had been doing and no attention was on them.

"Yeah," Morty said in a small voice.

Rick put his arm carefully around Morty's shoulders and leaned back against the couch. "Sorry I got you into this, Morty."

Morty laid his head against Rick's shoulder and exhaled a tired breath. "It's okay, Rick. This isn't your fault."

Rick frowned as he glanced down toward his grandson, who was starting ahead at the wall. He was kind of glad Morty wasn't blaming him this time, but he also felt pretty guilty. It kind of was his fault. Actually, it was completely Rick's fault. Paying a parking ticket wasn't a big deal. Rick could have just swallowed his pride and followed this society's stupid rules. He knew how they were about their time travel laws, but he'd taken the risk anyway, all to save some money.

Every bit of trouble he got Morty into was of course one hundred percent Rick's fault. This time there didn't seem to be much of a simple way out, which wasn't ordinarily an issue when Rick was alone, but was a big deal since he'd gotten Morty roped into this one. Being responsible for someone who he reluctantly cared a great deal for was such an inconvenience. He couldn't help but to dwell on the fact Morty would have been so much better off if he'd never met Rick...

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	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

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Rick hadn't been able to get even a moment of sleep since he and Morty had been left by Zach in the library. It was difficult for Rick to sleep even on a normal day, let alone now. He didn't even have any alcohol to help calm him down. He felt somewhat sick, very anxious, and a lot more guilty than he was comfortable with. He'd gotten himself and Morty into a very significant amount of trouble this time, and he really, really needed to fix it, and quickly.

The other guys here - Tony, Martin, and Glarcx seemed trustworthy enough, and Rick was glad to have been introduced to them - mostly for Morty's sake... But that didn't solve their problem. Prison sentences for breaking time-laws were ironically very, very long. He wasn't going to let Morty (or himself) get roped into serving the full length of their sentences, especially not with people in here being so pissed at him and so willing to take out their aggression on Morty.

The last time Rick was here, though it was in a different dimension, he'd joined a rival gang against Xirth's men. Some of them were different men back then, but they were still rough and violent and seemed to think they ruled this place, and Rick didn't like it... So he joined another, equally violent gang, and the groups took turns kicking the shit out of each other. Since Rick's gang then had science on their side, they often had the upper-hand and had obviously made quite an impression before Rick's sudden departure... Before he broke out, however he'd held back on using his scientific knowledge on an escape plan for quite a long time, just so he could use the same knowledge to invent things to fuck with the rival gang. He enjoyed the fact that he had both the power to free himself and the power to make their lives hell, and he relished in knowing that he would get to do both. He never expected he'd be back here with no fellow prisoners to back him up, having to start all over on his devices and being one man against an entire gang, nor did he expect that Morty would be with him.

Rick's former gang members didn't seem to be here anymore, and he had nothing to work with scientifically. He also had a lot more to lose this time. Last time, he just dove right in, attacking the other group before they could strike, using his inventions against them (and admittedly initially putting more effort into inventing shit to fuck with them than inventing something to get himself out of here. Last time it took him months before he made any effort to escape, and even then, he was having too much fun to really want to leave for quite some time. Making asses out of Xirth and his arrogant friends was far more satisfying than any escape could be.) He couldn't work like that this time. Not with Morty here. Rick didn't mind getting Xirth more and more pissed at him and suffering the consequences. He couldn't do that if Morty was going to be the one to suffer.

Though Rick's time spent in time prison was technically in his original dimension rather than this one, it was apparent that the Rick originally from here - the one who died and whose place Rick took, had done something identical or at least similar, as Xirth was still extremely pissed.

He looked to his side at Morty, who was sleeping peacefully next to him, cuddled up under the ratty blanket Zach had given him. Even under the blanket, Morty still shivered. This prison wasn't well-heated and the blankets were thin and full of holes. Rick draped his own blanket over Morty and sighed. He needed to get to work figuring out a way out of this.

So he stood and quietly made his way out of the library and onto the street. The prison was very similar to a town, only indoors. There were streets and sidewalks, public buildings all over, street lights, creepy guys huddled around flaming garbage cans... It was very much like a run-down city on Earth, only without the cars or the illusion of freedom.

Rick made his way down the sidewalk. He was going to need to find a place to serve as a workshop first and foremost. Then he would need to scavenge the components he'd need to invent some useful items. He planned to create a way to control the bracelets they wore, first. It would be an easy invention to make, since he already had his own bracelet to work off of, and had experimented and made progress with the idea the last time he was here and was well on his way to discovering how to turn his own bracelet into a sort of master-control over every bracelet on every prisoner in here. If he could manage to do that, he'd have the sort of control the guards had, which meant he could break out of this place easily.

As long as he could find the right components and something to open the bracelet with, he was confident that within a day or two, he'd be able to use his own bracelet to control all the others. He just needed their ID numbers, which were conveniently printed on the sides of the bracelets, in plain sight. He could deactivate his and Morty's and set off the ones belonging to anyone who dared fuck with either of them. Getting the codes would be easy. He just had to get close enough to certain people to see their wrists, and memorize the codes until he could program them.

That invention could possibly be the only one they needed if they played their cards right. Rick's portal gun was likely being held by the guards. If he could just get himself and Morty to wherever it was, they could get out of here. Disabling their bracelets would certainly help them with that task. If he couldn't manage to figure out the gun's location, he'd have to build a new one, which was going to be difficult. The resources would be very hard to come by in a prison.

Along the road, in a run-down building that smelled like mold, Rick found a closet full of roaches and spider-webs and chose that as his workshop. No one would be watching it, and no one would want to go in there. He went inside and began carving into the wall, to produce a bench that could be folded back up and hidden from view when he wasn't there.

He carved a few more holes into the wall, in a way so that he could place the wallpaper over them to hide them - those would be his storage spaces for his resources, which, as of now, included a fork he'd found on the ground, which he'd been carving into the wall with, and bits of wire and glass he'd picked up off the sidewalk on his way over, and a coin from a planet he'd never heard of. Everything had a use - most people didn't realize that. All this discarded garbage was going to get him and Morty out of this mess. He could have really used a screwdriver, but the fork could probably do the job with a bit more difficulty.

He exited the closet and then the building as he began searching for more items he could use.

"Rick," a voice called out from behind him.

With a sigh, Rick rolled his eyes before turning around. "What?" he asked when he saw the men from the showers walking toward him.

He'd known some of them from the last time he was here. The leader of the group was Xirth, who really hated Rick. Rick really hated him too, especially after the man had threatened to drag Morty into their dispute. Xirth had been the one to grab onto and threaten Morty earlier. Rick was certainly going to delight in programming his bracelet to destroy this guy. He could dial it up all the way and electrocute him to a crisp.

"Where's your little friend?" Xirth wondered with a smirk as he walked forward. Next to him was a scaly three-eyed man named Nedward, a slimy bug-like alien whose name Rick didn't know, and two more men, a bulky, balding guy named Earl, and an unnamed stranger.

Rick just stared at him. He really wasn't in the mood for this. He kind of wished these guys would just do whatever they were going to do so Rick could finish what he was doing.

"I'll bet Zach took you to those nerds in the library." Nedward smirked. "He thinks just because those guys are kinda big that they're invincible... We could probably go find little mini-Rick in just a couple minutes... Beat up the library nerds before they ever knew we were there, grab up your little friend, take him out into the street, and do whatever we wanted, all night long. No one would do anything to stop us. Most prisoners know not to interfere with whatever we're doing. Half the guards don't even give a damn what we do."

Rick did his best to keep his expression neutral. If he got angry, these guys would probably only escalate. They liked pissing people off, and liked hurting people. They also seemed to know going after Morty would accomplish both of those things. They hated Rick, and wanted to get to him by hurting his grandson.

"My offer still stands, Rick," Xirth noted. "If you'd like to take me up on it..."

Rick stared at him with no emotion shown on his face. He barely cared about anything Xirth could do to him. He only cared about not being dead, and about Morty staying safe. Xirth's threats toward Rick himself did not really scare him. If they wanted to do any number of nasty things to him, he wouldn't mind it so much, so long as he knew he could get back at them later, and he certainly knew he could. Rick was willing to suffer through a whole hell of a lot if it meant waiting for the right moment to make the other guy suffer worse. No matter what Xirth's men did to him, Rick would make sure he was the one laughing in the end.

"Or we could go get your little friend and see if he'd like to take me up on it." Xirth shrugged when Rick did not respond. "You think his little mouth could take this massive thing?" He gestured down at his crotch and thrust his pelvis forward slightly as he laughed. "He doesn't bite, does he?"

Rick scowled at the guy, knowing he was going to have to play nice for the time-being. "You want me to suck your fucking dick?" Rick finally spoke. It seemed that Rick's options were to allow this to happen to him, or fight these guys, inevitably become incapacitated due to being severely outmatched, and leave Morty alone to suffer through whatever they wanted to do to him. The right choice was clear. "Let's do it then. Anything to shut you up."

Xirth smiled. "I don't know that I really want that if you're so willing. Kinda defeats the point. I don't know if you noticed, Rick, but I'm trying to make you suffer for the past, and if you don't care about what I dish out, it's not really accomplishing my goal. That and I kinda like a challenge."

"I don't mind not having it be a challenge," Nedward spoke up. "I'll even leave the kid alone in exchange," he promised.

"Have you met all my friends, Rick?" Xirth asked. "That's Nedward. I think you met him last time you were here. The bug-guy is Stewart, then there's Earl, the older guy, and Benn, who'd surely be in prison for something else if it wasn't this. I'll put it bluntly... He's a rapist, Rick. A real sick fuck. I barely tolerate him because he's so fucking twisted. What he does even makes me sick half the time. He even raped Nedward. He's got a problem..."

"I don't think it's a problem." Benn smirked. "I'll rape the willing too... if you can even call it that... So I don't care how easy-going you are, Rick. I'll still take a turn. Maybe if you satisfy me, I won't even need to go find any little kids to finish me up... Get what I'm saying?"

Rick wanted to punch the guy, but he held back. He glanced down the sidewalk. Where several men had been loitering a minute before was totally empty now. Further down, a metal trashcan was on fire, but no one stood around it anymore. It seemed everybody had fled. No one was willing to challenge these guys or stand up for whomever they chose to torment. Everyone here knew what Xirth and his gang were like, and nobody wanted to risk getting that rage turned around on them.

"So..." Rick sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "What exactly do you guys fucking want? I'm kinda in the middle of something, so whatever you want, let's get to it. I don't have time for this shit."

Xirth laughed. "I think a couple of my guys wanna fuck your mouth, Rick." He shrugged. "I still think I'd rather go find mini-Rick, but if you're willing to let a couple of 'em get tired out with you before we go find him, we're game..."

"Fine." Rick shrugged, trying to remain emotionless. Of course he didn't want to give these two blow jobs. It wasn't something that bothered him any more than being shot or punched in the face, but of course he'd rather not. It sucked, but it wasn't the end of the world. It seemed like it was going to happen whether he let it or not, however, so he figured he'd just get it over with rather than letting them beat the shit out of him first.

"Get on your knees then." Benn smirked as he grabbed Rick's shoulders and pushed him down on the sidewalk. Nedward and Earl came forward to grab Rick's arms in an effort to hold him down, even though Rick hadn't planned on fighting back anyway.

Rick gritted his teeth as he fought the urge to stand back up and punch this guy. Holding still and being cooperative during this wasn't going to be easy for Rick, who was so used to kicking people's asses when they pissed him off, but it was important that he not appear too bothered by this. He was cornered and had no choice. Fighting back would probably accomplish nothing but to cause him more pain and possibly get Morty hurt too. He was outnumbered and outmatched and the possibility of Morty becoming tangled up in this mess was terrifying. Since he didn't seem to have any other option at least Rick could do himself the favor of not looking like he gave a shit.

Benn unzipped his pants and took his penis in his hand, holding it out and nodding down at Rick. "Open up, old man."

Rick hesitated for a moment. Sex wasn't something that ever made him uneasy, but this guy in particular was pretty gross, and Rick really wanted to hurt him. Anyone who would outright tell him he wanted to sexually assault his fourteen year old grandson was the scum of the universe in Rick's eyes.

Rick complied, opening his mouth and letting Benn press his disgusting penis over his tongue and toward the back of his throat. This was one of the last things Rick wanted to do. It was disgusting, and this man in particular was a terrible person. Rick absolutely did not want to do anything to please him, and didn't want to be in any way below him... But he didn't have much of a choice. He didn't want to fight and lose. He was outnumbered. He could take this like a man, or fight and end up with these men doing whatever they wanted with him anyway.

So he remained still and let the guy force himself down his throat. The taste made him nearly gag. It was disgusting, but Rick could handle it, and he'd rather these guys bother him than his grandson. He balled his hands into fists as he forced himself to remain as calm as possible. If he had been arrested by himself, he would have never gone down without a fight. Caring about someone else was really starting to fuck up his life in really excruciating ways.

"You got practice with this?" Benn laughed as he forced himself into Rick's mouth. "No gag reflex or nothin'... Can't wait to see how your friend compares. Bet I'll choke the poor little thing."

Rick couldn't answer. He kept silent, as he had to, but inside, he was boiling. This guy didn't know how close he was to getting his dick bitten off.

With each passing second, Rick felt more and more angry. He had such an advantage over these fuckers last time, and it really pissed him off to know they felt like they had control over him now. They had nothing to lose, sort how Rick felt when he was here before. Having Morty here with him really fucked things up for Rick, and these guys knew it.

It wasn't until Benn gripped Rick's hair in a tight fist to pull his head forward that Rick got too pissed off to go along with this anymore and bit down as hard as he could.

Benn shrieked and jumped back in time for two of his friends, Nedward and Earl to jump at Rick. One of them hit him very hard across the face and the other slammed a fist up against his ribs.

Rick fell down onto the sidewalk with a pained groan. He breathed out an angry, shaking breath as he climbed up onto his hands and knees. He felt blood dripping down his chin from a cut on his lip as he looked a few yards away at Benn who was also on the ground, gripping between his legs and nearly crying as he frantically panted and whined.

"He bit me!" Benn's trembling voice stated the obvious. "God damn it!" he moaned. "You're gonna fuckin' regret that, you piece of shit!" Benn threatened as he rolled dramatically on the ground, still gripping his crotch and groaning.

"Maybe we'll just go check out that library after all." Xirth scowled down at Rick. "I'll bet Mini-Rick isn't as much of a fighter."

Rick felt a growl tear through his throat as he stood up from where he'd landed, but Xirth swung at him, very forcefully, before he could do any damage, hitting him hard across the face. His head hit the ground and his vision went black.

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	5. Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

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When Morty woke up, he found that he was all alone on a sofa inside the library Rick's friend Zach had shown them to several hours earlier. This was, unfortunately, not all just a bad dream. He was still here... but he was by himself now, wrapped up in both his own blanket and Rick's. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked around the room. Everything was quiet and dark. It seemed the others were all asleep, but Rick was nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, he contemplated just hiding under the blankets and staying hidden, but he worried for Rick's sake. What if someone had forced him to leave? What if they were hurting him? Those men in the shower seemed to really hate him...

So Morty stood from the sofa and walked slowly and carefully toward the library's door. Remaining as quiet as possible, he hoped he wouldn't wake any of the three people Zach had introduced them to, who were asleep on various beaten up couches around the library. Morty didn't trust them. They were too good to be true. They seemed nice enough, but that didn't mean a damn thing. They were still strangers... in a prison. Completely trusting them without reason seemed like a terrible idea.

He made his way to the door, opened it slowly, and crept out of the room.

He supposed if Rick hadn't been forced to leave, he was probably in the bathroom, or maybe even looking around for alcohol. Morty didn't know the layout of this place. He had no idea where to start. So he just walked...

He made his way past a small group of guys sitting around a burning trash can, and ignored them as they called out to him and laughed.

"You lost, little boy?" one of them chuckled.

"Come sit by the fire, baby," another offered in a gravely voice. "We'll keep you warm."

Morty grimaced and looked away, quickening his pace as he walked aimlessly down the sidewalk. There weren't many people out this late, but the ones who were seemed really scary.

He walked faster and faster as he began to feel like he may have made a grave mistake coming out here on his own. Nobody hanging out on the edges of the streets seemed like someone Morty wanted to interact with in any way. The ones who didn't call out creepy offers to him at the very least gave him cold, questionable stares. He knew they could sense his apprehension.

Morty was nearly jogging by now. He nervously looked around. By this point, he didn't even know where he was, and figured he couldn't find his way back to the library if he tried. Why had he thought this was a good idea?

"You new around here, kid?" someone asked as they started following behind him. "Haven't seen you before. I can show ya around."

"N-no." Morty walked faster. "I'm okay. T-thanks though..."

"You sure?" The guy quickened his pace as well. "I can show you where everything is. This is a big place for a little guy like you to navigate all on your own with no one looking out for you. I can offer you protection. A lot of people are gonna wanna take advantage of you around here. I won't lie 'bout that much, you know? You're a real little thing. A tiny, vulnerable, desirable little piece. I can keep you safe."

Morty shook his head and turned a corner, trying to lose the guy as he was practically running now. The footsteps behind him grew quicker too. The stranger was not giving up.

"Come 'ere." The guy finally reached out and grabbed Morty's arm, pulling him back somewhat harshly.

Morty screamed a loud shriek until the man slapped a hand over his mouth.

"I'm tryin'a help you here. Don't scream." The man threatened as he pressed his hand down rather harshly over the boy's face and dragged Morty back into a seemingly abandoned building.

With a pained, frightened wince, Morty tried to struggle out of the guy's grip, but was unsuccessful.

"Listen here, kid." The man finally let go of Morty, but shoved him back and stood in the doorway so that Morty was cornered in a small room which looked like it was being used as a storage space of some kind. "I'm tryin' ta be friendly with you. If you're gonna be imprisoned here, you're gonna want a friend, I'm sure. You'll need one. I'm gonna keep you safe from other prisoners. We gotta system here... No one will bother you if I let them know I got your back, see?"

Morty swallowed a lump in his throat. "N-no... That's okay... I-I already have people w-watching my back," he said in a nervous whisper.

"I don't see 'em." The guy smirked as he made a show of pretending to look around the room for these people Morty was referring to. "My name is Mr. Jacobs." He raised his hand as though expecting Morty to shake it and introduce himself as well.

Morty shook his head. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone... T-they're gonna come looking for me soon, so I should probably go." He moved to step around the stranger, but Jacobs reached out and grabbed his arm, tugging him back and pushing him further into the room. By now, Morty's breaths were becoming quite frantic. He had to get out of here. This guy was clearly up to something. "I don't need any help. Thanks, but no thanks. I've got to go." He attempted to walk around the guy again, but was grabbed again, in gentle, but firm hands.

Jacobs's tone soured when Morty continued to reject his offers, but he was still clearly trying to remain calm. It was apparent that he wanted Morty to believe this meeting was friendly when it clearly wasn't. "I'm not really asking you, kid... You're mine now. I keep you safe - I keep big guys from beating the shit out of you or forcing themselves on you... but you've gotta do something for me too."

Morty felt tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at the door to the room, which this guy was very much blocking as he still gripped the boy's arm in a firm hand. This didn't sound good at all. "Just let me go," he whimpered. "Please... I don't need protection... I- I'm not asking for it."

"I'm offering it though - you either accept my help, or I'm just gonna be one of many people who gladly take advantage of you... and in that case, I won't be protecting you from anyone," Jacobs warned. "I can become the solution, or part of the problem. One or the other. Your choice. And don't even try to tell me no one in here's been botherin' ya. I saw those weirdos by that fire, calling out to you like creeps. I can keep people like that away."

Not seeming to have any other option, Morty remained still and silent. He felt himself shaking and his breaths quickening. He'd encountered two situations similar to this in his life. The first time, his opponent, Mr. Jellybean, was much smaller than this guy. The second time, hours earlier in the shower, he'd had Rick and the prison guards on his side. This time, he was all alone, and the guy cornering him was gigantic.

"My first task I ask of you is simple. I just want to touch you," Jacobs explained.

Shaking his head, Morty backed up against the wall. "No," he refused.

"I'll be gentle," Jacobs promised, closing in on him and grabbing at his jacket, pulling it easily off his arms and tossing it to the side. This man was at least six and a half feet tall and had huge muscles to match.

"S-stop!" Morty stuttered as he cowered down and tried to run past the guy. Jacobs grabbed his arms and forcefully shoved him so that Morty's back hit the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of his lungs. He coughed feebly as tears filled his eyes.

"Just calm down," Jacobs urged in a voice that was deceptively friendly. "You're okay. I won't hurt you." He bent over and reached for the bottom of Morty's shirt.

"No!" Morty screamed and swung a punch at the guy's face.

As soon as Morty hit him, even though the punch wasn't all that hard considering Morty was not very strong, Mr. Jacobs's willingness to attempt to be gentle was gone. The guy hit him back against his cheek so much harder than necessary, leaving Morty groaning on the floor as his vision swam.

Curling in on himself, Morty brought his hand up to his cheek, holding the spot where Jacobs had hit him as he blinked back tears.

Jacobs was on top of him instantly, pulling at his clothing and groping him with large, rough hands. He yanked Morty's t-shirt over his head and then forced him onto his stomach and using the shirt to tie his wrists tightly together behind his back.

It wasn't until then that Morty had regained his bearings enough to start fighting back again. "Stop!" Morty begged as he tried to wriggle free. "Please don't! Please!" he cried as Jacobs easily pinned him face-down and tugged his too-big pants roughly down his legs. The prison uniform didn't include any undergarments. Morty was completely exposed as he struggled uselessly under the man's grip. "Let me go! Please! Please let me go! Don't do this!" Morty sobbed. He didn't know what else to do besides beg.

"Shhh." Jacobs cooed as he ran his hand down Morty's back, over his backside, and down his thigh. "This is a lot better than what you'd get if I didn't agree to look out for you, sweet little boy. Don't cry," he added as he petted the back of Morty's head. "I'm not gonna hurt you. You don't need ta cry, sweetheart. I just wanna touch you. I won't have sex with you tonight. We'll take it slow."

Morty sniffed back tears and struggled to turn himself over. "Stop!" he begged as his attacker continued running his hands up and down Morty's body. "Let me go! Please!" he sobbed.

Jacobs flipped him over onto his back so that Morty stared up into his hungry eyes. The man hovered over him, pinning down the boy's thrashing legs with the weight of his body, grabbing his upper-arm in a tight fist, and staring down at him with a cruel smirk. Morty wanted to disappear so badly.

"You might be the sweetest little thing in this whole prison. You know that?" Jacobs spoke. "We don't get kids in here hardly ever... I'm prob'ly gonna have to fight pretty hard to keep you to myself. He put his hand on Morty's cheek, ignoring the fact that the boy turned his head to the side to try to look away. "But I got a couple friends who might help... For a price."

Morty shook his head and tried to squirm away. "No... Let me go!" Morty whimpered as he tensed his muscles, trying to pull away even though his legs were pinned very securely under Jacobs's weight and he was held down by an impossibly strong grip around his arm. He couldn't budge, but he couldn't afford to not try. "Get off me!" He was pretty much screaming now, which reminded him that screaming might be his only way out of this - to hope someone else would come to his rescue. So he did just that. "Help me!" he cried out as loud as he could manage.

"Shut up." Jacobs threatened as he slapped Morty across his face.

Morty whimpered and stopped screaming, but continued trying to throw the guy off him. He felt so trapped, and so scared.

"You're gonna tire yourself out fighting like this," Jacobs noted as he held tightly onto Morty with one hand, and ran his other down the boy's chest. "You're not getting away from me. That's impossible... And no one but me hangs out down here in this part'a town. 'Cept my friends... and you screamin's prob'ly only gonna get them excited. They're not as careful as I am."

Morty felt his lip trembling as he held back tears and wondered if he should even try screaming again. If what this guy said was true, his screams might only be heard by other people who would want to hurt him, and by no one who would be willing to help.

He held perfectly still as Jacobs moved his hand up to his face, putting his fingers on his cheek and his thumb on Morty's lip. "You've got a nice mouth. What's your name, sweet little boy? I never asked..."

Morty swallowed nervously. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell this guy his name.

"Hm?" Jacobs wondered as he ran his hand down Morty's neck and chest, down over his pelvis... He ran his fingers carefully down between Morty's legs, causing Morty to suck in a frightened breath and squeeze his eyes shut for a moment. "What's your name, kid?" Jacobs asked again.

Morty shook his head and tried to shrink away. "Please don't." He begged, blinking back tears as he tried desperately to throw the man off him.

"Tell me your name, little baby," Jacobs asked again in a soft voice as he ran his fingers up and down, slowly between Morty's legs. "I don't want to have ta hurt you..."

Finally, Morty figured telling the man might make him stop, so he answered. "M-Morty," he said. "My name's Morty."

Jacobs smiled and began to stand, pulling Morty up off the floor. "Ha... Really? That's cute, kid."

Morty frowned. No one had ever accused his name of being cute. "Can- Can I go back now?" he asked in a trembling voice.

"Not yet." Jacobs smiled as he gripped Morty's upper arms in tight fists. Jacobs led Morty across the room. A few wooden crates were thrown in the corner, Jacobs sat down on one and pulled Morty onto his lap.

Immediately, Morty tried to stand, but couldn't as Jacobs gripped his wrists in one hand, wrapped his arm around around the boy's stomach, and held him firmly down.

"Don't fight me," Jacobs warned. "I don't want to hurt you, Morty. I want to protect you. I told you that..."

"Then let me go." Morty sniffed back tears. He could feel himself shaking, both from the chill air and from the fact that he was entirely terrified.

Jacobs shook his head as he gripped Morty's wrists, which were still bound behind his back, in one hand and moved his other hand down onto the boy's bare stomach, moving his fingers lightly over his skin. "I'm sorry I hit you before," Jacobs spoke in a low voice. "I didn't want this to go down like that. You're supposed to feel safe around me... but you're also supposed to respect me. I'll respect you if you respect me. It's a two-way street."

Morty whimpered and tugged at his wrists as Jacobs moved his hand down his stomach, lower and lower. "Stop!" he cried out when the man continued moving his fingers lower, down between his victim's legs. "Let me go! I don't want to do this... Please!" He felt tears running down his face. He was scared to fight back, but more scared to stay still. "Get off me!" he finally screamed as he twisted his body around and kicked out as his attacker.

"God damn it, Morty!" Jacobs's voice was angry as he stood, letting his victim fall down against the hard floor. Before Morty could stand up and make a run for it, Jacobs balled his hand into a fist and hit him very hard across the face. Morty fell back against the floor, panting as he blinked back stars. In no time, Jacobs was on him again, straddling him and staring down at him with angry eyes.

"No!" Morty screamed as he fought as hard as he could. It was hard to do much with his hands tied behind him.

"Hold still, or I'm gonna have to ta get violent with you, kid," Jacobs threatened. His voice was low and cold as he grabbed Morty's neck in a bruising grip. "Stop fucking fighting me, Morty. You're just making this harder for yourself."

Morty whimpered as Jacobs squeezed his hand around the boy's throat. He thrashed his body, trying to throw Jacobs off of him. The man kept a tight hold around his neck. Morty was pretty much trapped, except for his legs. Without another thought, he brought his knee up between his attacker's legs, as hard as he could. It must have hurt, because the last thing Morty saw was Jacobs's angry face staring down at him before a hard fist collided with his temple and he saw no more.

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	6. Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

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"You awake?" Morty's eyelids fluttered as he heard Jacobs speaking from above him. Morty was still lying on his back on the floor, with Jacobs hovering over him. His head hurt pretty significantly, but he couldn't even move his hand to hold where it hurt. His wrists were still tightly bound behind him.

Morty whimpered and tried to stand up, but Jacobs put his hand down firmly on his chest to hold him down.

"Didn't mean ta hit you so hard... You alright, kid?" Jacobs wondered with a frown. He actually looked legitimately concerned.

Morty shook his head. "No," he whimpered. He was most certainly not alright. "Please let me go back. I want my grandpa." Morty sniffed back tears as his voice shook. He wanted nothing more than to be in the relative safety of Rick's company.

"Your grandpa?" Jacobs wondered. "Honey, you're in this alone. You remember where you are, right? You're in time prison. You don't have family here. All you've got is me. I'm your grandpa now."

Shaking his head, Morty sniffed back more tears. "M-my grandpa, Rick is imprisoned here too. We got arrested together."

"Oh..." Jacobs frowned. "I guess that kinda poses a problem... You can't tell him about this. You understand?"

Morty paused, but nodded when he feared what the man might do if he didn't agree. "I won't tell," he promised. "Just let me go... I won't say anything."

"You know..." Jacobs noted as wrapped one hand threateningly around Morty's throat and ran his other down the boy's chest. "I could do a lot worse than this... And I will if you don't keep your mouth shut. You know how fucking weak you are?" Jacobs taunted.

With a frown, Morty flinched as Jacobs ran his hand down between Morty's legs and squeezed. "Don't," Morty begged in a shaking voice. He couldn't get away. He kicked out, even though he knew it would make the man angry. He simply couldn't bring himself to hold still and allow this man to hurt him.

"God damn it, Morty!" Jacobs growled, moving his hand and punching Morty in his side. Morty whimpered and tried to curl in on himself, but Jacobs pulled him back, hitting him again in the stomach before leaning down, gripping his face, and staring into his eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, little guy. I really want this relationship to be something where we can both benefit. I keep you safe. You make sure I'm sexually satisfied... Maybe you'll even grow to enjoy the sex aspect too. I can be gentle if you let me. I wanna be."

Morty choked back a pained sob as he tried to turn his face. He'd never felt more vulnerable in his entire life. This guy was huge. No one nearby could or would help him. He was at the complete mercy of his attacker. Morty couldn't help but to shake in fear and pain. He was so scared.

"I won't hurt you, little baby," Jacobs promised as he ran his hand down Morty's chest and gripped between his legs again, with a firm, but gentle hand. He rubbed his hand over his victim's sensitive skin for a few moments as he held Morty's face in his other hand. Running his fingers carefully over the boy's cheek, he continued lightly stroking his other hand. "Be good for me, and you won't get hurt. Just cooperate."

Morty sniffed back tears and closed his eyes as he felt Jacobs's hand stop fondling between his legs. The man effortlessly lifted him off the floor and dragged him back over to the crates. Instead of making him sit on his lap, however, he forced the boy to lie face-down on one of the crates, with his legs dangling over the edge. Morty gasped as he felt the man's hands grip his backside.

"No! Don't!" Morty couldn't help himself. "Please!" He kicked out again. Although he didn't want the man to touch him at all, he would have preferred the groping hands to this.

"I was just looking," Jacobs growled as he held Morty down more forcefully. "You gotta learn some fucking respect."

Jacobs punched him again, very hard on his backside, then again against his ribs, before putting one hand harshly on the back of Morty's head and pressing his cheek hard against the crate, moving his body to pin down the boy's legs, and fumbling rough fingers between his victim's cheeks. "I told you I wouldn't hurt you. All you have to do is be good. It's not that fucking hard." Jacobs sounded pretty angry now. "I wasn't gonna do anything. Not yet... but maybe I need to teach you what happens when you don't cooperate."

Morty could no longer fight. He was in too much pain, and even more fear. He was also pinned down very securely. He could feel his attacker's hand against his backside, between his cheeks, with one finger prodding and threatening to push into him, even though his body fought against it. Though he focused mostly on breathing, he also cried softly and managed to speak a few more words of desperate begging. "I'll do anything you want. I won't fight anymore," Morty sobbed. "Please don't hurt me. Please..."

Jacobs seemed more angry now than ever as he pressed his finger forcefully and without warning through Morty's resisting muscles.

With a shocked, pained gasp, Morty tried to lean away, but couldn't move. He inhaled a sharp breath and squeezed his eyes shut as he suffered through the foreign feeling of his attacker's intruding finger. "Stop! Don't! Please don't!" Morty begged. The stranger's finger pushing into him felt awkward, embarrassing, and somewhat painful.

"It's your own fault this is happening," Jacobs told him. "I was just going to touch you. I was going to be gentle. I was going to make you feel safe. You're the one who was ungrateful and fought with me. I offer to keep you safe, and all I want is to put my hands on you... to just softly touch you, but no... You had to fight me. So here you go. You asked for this."

Morty groaned and flinched and he breathed through the pain in his ribs, but could not move far enough to stop the man's hands from abusing him. He knew kicking out was no longer an option. Kicking only ensured his attacker would hurt him worse only to continue abusing him anyway. He probably would have kicked anyway, but his legs were pinned down.

"You'll thank me for this later. I'll just let you know right now, this isn't the last time we're gonna do this part," Jacobs told him. "I can't exactly just plow right into you without stretching you out a little first. I'd probably destroy you... And even if you are being difficult, I really don't want to have to do that..."

Morty whimpered and fought the urge to be sick. He wished he could pass out again. "Please stop!" he gasped as he tried to keep his breaths from becoming frantic. He was beginning to panic again. "W-why are you doing this to me?"

Jacobs laughed and pushed a second finger into the boy's body, moving it along with the first and then stretching them around. "I think you might be too tiny to take my whole dick. Even my two fingers are almost too big for you. You're so god-damned little."

Morty sobbed as he could do nothing but lie there as Jacobs pushed his fingers deep inside him, moved them uncomfortably around, slid them out, and then pushed them back in. Two fingers was too much. It was more than just embarrassing and awkward now. It hurt. With a whimper, Morty began begging again. "Please s-stop... Y-you're hurting me."

"Shhh," Jacobs whispered. "No I'm not."

Another choked sob echoed in the small room as Morty groaned in pain. He could feel that his entire body was trembling as he was forced to suffer through Jacobs's assault. "Y-you said you d-didn't want to hurt me," he stammered between frantic breaths.

"I'm not hurting you," Jacobs persisted, but removed the second finger and continued his assault with just one. "So here's the deal," Jacobs noted. "I have friends here, so even if you have your grandpa to protect you, I've got people who could take him out... You tell him about this, and he's probably going to die. And if that happens, I'm gonna fuck you as hard as I can, over and over... Won't hold back at all. It'll probably kill you... and if it doesn't, I'll let my friends go next. We'll all go until you're literally torn to shreds. Or... You can keep your mouth shut, and I'll be more careful with you and your Grandpa can live. Your choice."

Sniffing back tears, Morty remained quiet aside from an occasional moan of discomfort and pain.

"So are you gonna play nice? You gonna cooperate?" Jacobs asked again. "You won't tell anyone about this, right?"

Morty hesitated, but figured agreeing might spare him from more pain - for the moment at least. "Yes," he whimpered in a small voice.

"Good. I guess I won't actually go all the way with you just yet, since you're behaving better now," Jacobs decided as he pulled his finger out of Morty's body and patted him lightly on his backside. "I want to... But I told you I'd just touch you for now. The fingers up inside you counts as touching," he added with a laugh. "You're being good now, so we'll leave off here. I'm sorry I had to be so rough, Morty. I never wanted to hurt you. You were supposed to appreciate my offer a little more... but you got all defensive, and when you fuckin' hit me before I ever hurt you at all, ya kinda made me mad, you know?"

Morty swallowed a lump in his throat and remained still. He hoped this was all over, and it seemed to be, but he still wasn't sure. He was scared to move or say anything. Jacobs wasn't hurting him at the moment, so Morty didn't want to take any chances.

"Remember to keep your mouth shut about this," Jacobs threatened. "I might just have to settle for a hand job next time. I don't wanna hurt you, kid, I mean that... I'm willing to take this slower than I'd prefer, for your sake, buddy... Unless you make me mad."

He pulled Morty up off the crate and untied his t-shirt from his wrists, helping the boy slide the shirt back over his arms and head and then shoving him forward toward his pants and jacket that had been tossed carelessly to the floor earlier.

With trembling hands, Morty quickly got dressed and rushed out of the building. He still didn't know where he was...

"Not so fast, little guy," Jacobs called out as he sort of jogged after him.

Morty winced as he turned toward the voice, and considered running, but feared doing so would only anger the man who was so obviously bigger and stronger than he was. Morty remained still, staring with wide eyes at his abuser.

"I said I'd watch your back. Let me escort you to wherever you're going. I'll make sure no one messes with you," Jacobs offered. "That was the deal."

Morty swallowed a lump in his throat. "I don't know where I'm going," he spoke in a small voice. "I'm lost..."

"We can walk around until you see something familiar," Jacobs offered, walking over and placing his arm around Morty's shoulders.

Morty shrunk down, but knew better by now than to really fight with the man. An arm around his shoulders was nothing compared to what the guy was capable of. "C-can you show me where the library is?" he asked. He really wanted to find Rick, but the library would do for now, since he also wanted this guy to get away from him.

"Sure." Jacobs smiled and led him down a sort of sidewalk. The prison was practically an entire town, only all indoors. It was no wonder Morty had gotten lost so easily. "I know the library. You're staying with Tony and Glarcx, and that other guy, huh?"

Morty swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. He really wasn't feeling the small talk right now.

As they walked, Jacobs leaned over and whispered to Morty. His voice was deceptively gentle, but his words were not. "I should'a had you jerk me off. Everything was about you in there. I kinda only just got myself excited..." Jacobs rubbed his hand on Morty's shoulder as he spoke. "But you'll be here for a while. So will I. We've got plenty of time for everything."

Morty wanted to push the guy away and run, but his threats were fresh in the boy's mind. He would have Rick killed if Morty didn't cooperate, and then he'd hurt Morty even worse than he already did.

"I think you know better now than to fight with me, so this'll just get easier and easier from here. I'm gonna do my best to never hurt you, Morty." Jacobs spoke in a low voice as he leaned closer to Morty's ear. "I can recognize that you're really tiny... So it's not like I'm just gonna go all out like I normally would. I'll take your size into consideration. Again, unless you make me mad," he laughed.

They walked along for a few minutes until Morty spotted Rick pacing down the sidewalk in the distance. He felt relief immediately, but also fear. Would this guy, Jacobs let him go with Rick? Would he do something bad to Rick? Maybe Morty shouldn't even acknowledge the man. Maybe it would be best for Rick's sake for Jacobs to never know what he looked like.

Morty chose to ignore that he'd even spotted his grandfather for the moment. Maybe he could just get to the library instead, and Rick could find him there. Morty could just not tell Rick what had happened. Rick would never knew Jacobs even existed.

"Morty?" Rick's voice called.

Morty exhaled nervously and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he saw his grandfather making his way across the path between buildings and toward Morty and Jacobs. Morty noticed his grandpa had dried, crusty blood dribbled down his chin and onto his shirt and had a bruise on his face. He wanted to ask Rick what had happened, but couldn't bring himself to speak at all. Jacobs had threatened to hurt Rick if Morty didn't say the right thing. It had him scared to say anything, no matter what the subject.

"What're you doing out here, Morty?" Rick wondered with a frown as he approached them.

"I-" Morty paused, glancing up toward Jacobs for a half second and noticing the guy give him a warning look.

Rick continued staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you out here? Did I not tell you to fucking stay put?"

Morty looked back up at his grandfather and swallowed. His throat felt so dry. Rick hadn't told him to stay put. He hadn't told him anything. Morty just woke up and he was gone. "I w-was looking for you, Rick," he stuttered.

"Who the fuck is this?" Rick asked as he looked up toward Jacobs and immediately shoved him back away from his grandson.

Morty hesitated as Jacobs's arm around his shoulders was replaced with Rick's more forceful, tighter grip. Even though Jacobs's grip had actually been more gentle, Morty felt infinitely safer with Rick's rough hand grabbing his shoulder. It took a few seconds for Morty to realize Jacobs hadn't ever answered Rick. He was waiting for Morty to offer an answer instead, probably ready to hurt both him and Rick if Morty didn't answer correctly.

"Uh-" Morty frowned and looked up at Rick. "He- T-this is Mr. Jacobs," he answered.

Rick shook his head. "And? Who the fuck is he? Why is he with you? Who the fuck are you?" Rick scowled at the man and pulled Morty closer.

"I found your grandson wandering around all alone. A couple guys were looking at him in a way I'm sure you wouldn't like, so I jumped in before they had a chance to act on whatever nasty thoughts were swirling 'round in their heads," Jacobs lied. Of course there were other weirdos out before Jacobs had ambushed him, but it's not like the man's arrival had saved Morty from anything.

Rick narrowed his eyes as he looked Jacobs over. "Okay," he finally said. "Thanks," he muttered and turned away, leading Morty back toward the library.

Morty leaned closer to his grandfather as they walked. He wished the man could keep him safe forever, but he really didn't know if that was going to be possible. Jacobs seemed to imply he wasn't finished with Morty... And Morty wasn't entirely sure what the guy expected of him. He knew he was meant to cooperate and keep his mouth shut, but he didn't know how the man planned on continuing this. Was Morty supposed to willingly visit the guy and let him hurt him a little so he wouldn't hurt him a lot? It wasn't only himself he had to worry about either. Rick had been threatened too. He had to do whatever Jacobs wanted. He didn't have a choice.

"What the fuck's his problem?" Rick wondered in a low voice as they walked away. "He threaten you or something? What's his deal?"

Morty's eyes widened. He wasn't supposed to tell Rick anything about Jacobs. Did his grandfather somehow know something was up? Morty had to lie. Rick's and his own well-being depended on it. "N-no," he stuttered. "He didn't... He-"

"Morty, you've been crying." Rick frowned down at him, likely noticing his disheveled appearance. "What did he do?"

Morty shook his head. "H-he didn't do anything... I was crying because-" Morty hesitated, thinking up an excuse. "W-well, I was lost. I was looking for you and I was lost, and other people out here were looking at me and saying weird stuff... I got scared. Then M-Mr Jacobs found me and brought me back here."

Rick didn't look convinced. He stared at Morty with narrowed eyes for a full thirty seconds before frowning and dropping the subject. "I was out looking for supplies, Morty. I'm working on a device that's gonna be the first step toward things getting better around here," Rick explained. "The guys at the library were supposed to make sure you didn't leave... You were supposed to stay there."

"W-well, you could have told me that, Rick." Morty frowned. "I didn't know where you were."

"No... It's good you weren't there. I actually hope the other guys are alright..." Rick shrugged. "Anyway, I can't work on my devices in the library because the guards watch there too much. But I've set up a small workshop down the street in the closet of a run-down building. You're gonna need to stay at the library while I work sometimes, Morty, even if that means staying with those people you don't know well. They're better than whatever you'll find out here, I'm sure."

Morty nodded. "Yeah..." he agreed with a sigh. "They probably are..."

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	7. Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

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It turned out Xirth and his friends had stopped by the library after their meeting with Rick, but had fortunately not done anything to Glarcx, Tony, or Martin. Apparently knowing the guards watched the room well was enough to scare them away. Rick knew that meant stepping outside of the library would be dangerous for any one of them though.

Xirth and his men would likely be just waiting for someone to set foot outside of the library alone. Morty was lucky he seemed to have gone outside the library to search for Rick before Xirth and his friends had come looking for him. If they'd found him walking outside on his own, any number of horrible things could have happened. And now on top of that, it seemed Morty had a weird guy wanting to act like he and the kid were buddies when they couldn't possibly be. Unfortunately, being a small, fourteen year old boy in a prison was attracting a lot of negative attention.

Rick couldn't help but to be extremely suspicious of Morty's new friend. When he'd found his grandson last night, it was very clear that Morty had been crying, and he seemed extremely jumpy. Rick wasn't the sort of person to relentlessly beg for details of someone else's trauma, but he had a pretty good idea that Jacobs wasn't just doing a good deed when he chose to befriend Morty. Something had happened to make Morty scared of not going along with this guy. He was definitely hiding something. Rick was generally good at reading people, and he read Jacobs as a slimy pervert.

"I don't want you going near that Jacobs guy again, Morty," Rick advised as they sat up on the couch in the library. Everyone else was sound asleep, but it seemed neither Rick nor Morty were finding sleep as easy as the others.

"W-why not?" Morty looked almost scared as he clutched the ratty prison blanket in his fists.

Rick frowned. "Why would you want to?"

Morty stared at him for a moment and then finally shrugged. "I don't know... I- I just... Okay... I won't go near him again..." He swallowed and looked down.

Narrowing his eyes, Rick looked his grandson over. He could still see streaks down his face from dried tears, and he still seemed extra jumpy. Morty often freaked out with little provocation, but he didn't often full-on sob for no reason... Rick wished Morty would just tell him the truth, but he really didn't want to ask over and over and force it out of him. Rick didn't like when people did that to him, so he sort of felt he was doing Morty a favor by not asking too many questions the boy really didn't want to answer.

Even so, Rick really wanted to know what had happened so he'd know how much to kick this guy's ass, so he thought over what he knew about the situation and tried to draw his own conclusions.

Morty had claimed that guy had just found him and helped him find his way back to Rick, but the kid was being really weird. Jacobs was being weird too, with his arm around Morty's shoulders as though they were long-time friends. Rick knew Morty didn't care much for strangers grabbing onto him. He barely even allowed close family to put their arms around him, so the fact that he'd let this random guy do so was unsettling. Rick wondered if the guy had threatened his grandson in some way. It made sense that Morty would let the guy hug him if he feared something worse would come from declining the offer.

"You know if he said something to you, you can tell me," Rick spoke. As much as he didn't want to pry, he also wanted to make it clear that Morty could talk to him about this if he wanted to. "We got a pretty tough guard on our side, and these three guys in here... and you've always got me. If this guy said something, if he threatened you... If he hurt you-"

"He didn't," Morty interrupted, raising his voice slightly. "Just stop... I won't hang around with him, okay?"

Rick nodded. Morty was being really defensive about this, but Rick didn't want to push the issue. If anyone understood the desire to just push things out of mind, it was Rick. If there was an issue, and Morty didn't want to talk about it, that was fine. Rick would have to just keep a better eye on the kid. Morty didn't need to tell him something was wrong, because Rick could tell something was. Whether Morty elaborated or not, Rick was going to do what he could to keep his grandson safe here.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Later, after they'd managed to get some sleep, Rick, Morty, and their three new friends, Tony, Glarcx, and Martin decided to take a walk and then head over to the cafeteria for one of the two meals the prisoners were served each day. Garcx seemed determined to show Morty around the prison, as if the kid was ever going to be strolling around on his own ever again...

"There are lots of public bathrooms all around," Garcx explained as they walked. "Some people just use the gutter... but that's so disgusting. There are bathrooms all over, so they're just being lazy. I'm convinced some people are determined to be as offensive as possible for no other reason than to upset each other, so you might see some gross things out in the streets, but there are bathrooms here. This is the nicest one." He gestured toward a facility that still had a door on the front. "There are six stalls in there. Four of them are private. The other two doors fell off their hinges long ago, weren't ever fixed, and I guess someone took them to make something out of them."

"Why is everything here falling apart so much?" Morty frowned as he began to notice what Rick had known from the start - that this prison was a crumbling piece of shit.

Glarcx shrugged. "They don't care much about prisoners in New Xelnarnian prisons, Morty. That's why most guards wouldn't help you even if they saw another prisoner attack you. They're supposed to, but half of them would either turn their backs and pretend they saw nothing, or they might even watch and delight in it."

Morty's eyes widened.

"Certain guards would even join in," Glarcx explained with a frown.

"There's a reason the three of us stick to the library for the most part," Tony explained. "There's not much you can do against a guard, since they have the controls to the bracelets... but there is a certain degree of safety in numbers."

"Hardly any prisoner in here hasn't been beaten to a pulp more times than they can count," Martin added. "And unfortunately sexual assault is very common. Being locked away for years in a place as uninviting as this really brings out the aggression in people, and seems to diminish whatever morality they once had. This place is just for people who violate time laws... There's no reason there should be so much violence, but there is."

"You two aren't the only ones who've been targeted. I can say that much," Glarcx noted. "The fact that the prison houses so many different species doesn't help. There's lots of weirdos out there just wanting to experience a species other than their own."

On the one hand, Rick didn't like how honest these guys were being with Morty. They were clearly scaring the hell out of him. But on the other hand, it was good for Morty to know there were so few people to depend on around here. If he knew he needed to be really careful, maybe he would be.

"Here's a public water fountain," Glarcx noted as they walked onward. "Those are in quite a few places around as well. I think this one still works."

"Do people still bother you ever now that the three of you stay together in the library?" Morty wondered.

"Sometimes," Glarcx noted. "With all three of us there to fight back, they are unsuccessful more often. People tend to want to pick on someone who is alone. It's easier. But we've all had certain prisoners who kinda zeroed in on one of us in particular and found it hard to let it go. I had this weirdo from Zebnon bothering me for a while..." He shook his head and rolled his eyes at the memory.

"Why did he stop bothering you?" Morty wondered. "How did you get him to stop?"

"He's dead," Glarcx answered with a raised eyebrow. "He got too handsy one day - he'd attacked me a few times. I'm kind of a pacifist, to be honest, but he kept jumping me, and the third time, I fought back harder than I really needed to. I was sick of it. Guess that's the perk of being made of jelly," Glarcx laughed.

"W-How did you kill him?" Morty frowned.

"Suffocated him. Zebnonians can't breathe through jelly. Well, no one can." Glarcx shrugged.

Morty gulped, likely realizing how easily this guy could kill pretty much anyone by just enveloping them in his jelly body.

"Here's the cafeteria. Come on, Morty. I'm fucking starving," Rick noted as he led the way into the area and stood at the end of a long line. Almost every prisoner was here. Meal times didn't last all that long and only happened twice a day. If people wanted to eat, they knew they needed to do so now, or wait half the day for their next chance. Most prisoners took advantage of every opportunity to be given food, no matter how unappetizing it was.

It took a few minutes for them to reach the front of the line, where their bracelets were scanned before they were handed their trays - probably to prevent them from going through the line twice, as if they would possibly want to. They were served some sort of mysterious slab of meat and a very questionable pile of squishy grey stuff. They proceeded to find a table with space for all five of them and sat down.

"What is this?" Morty frowned as he poked at the meat with his finger. "And this?" he asked of the grey substance.

"I gotta get some silverware," Rick noted as he stood back up, frowning when he looked around and noticed most of the prisoners were eating with their hands. He'd forgotten how fucking disgusting this place was. "You good here, Morty?" he asked. He trusted these three guys to an extent, but wanted to make sure Morty felt safe being left alone with them for a minute.

Morty nodded and looked back down at the tray as Glarcx explained to him how they grew the vegetables to make the grey sludge and what creature the meat came from.

Rick made his way up toward a table covered with silverware and napkins. He was actually surprised the prison even had such luxuries. Last time he was here, they didn't have napkins, and only had enough silverware for about half the prisoners. Rick had resorted to stealing some and bringing it back with him for each meal. He glanced toward the table closest to him and frowned as a many-eyed alien grabbed a tentacle-full of grey goo and hurled it into its mouth. It looked like they still had the same amount of silverware here - people had just mostly stopped using it. He supposed they got used to not getting to use a fork half the time and just gave up.

He grabbed a fork and knife, looking down at the knife in his hand and narrowing his eyes. He was keeping this. If it took longer than necessary to invent the things he and Morty needed to escape from here, he'd have the knife as a last-resort defense.

When he looked back toward the table, he noticed that creep from the previous night had sat down across the table from Morty and was talking to him. Morty looked uncomfortable, but was clearly trying to hide that fact, as he smiled nervously and nodded at something Jacobs said. Rick cursed under his breath and quickly made his way back over to the table.

"Have you met Jacobs?" Tony asked as Rick grabbed Jacobs's shoulders and roughly dragged the guy up off the seat. "Geeze, Rick... He's alright... He's my friend. He didn't mean any harm..." Tony spoke up in the guy's defense.

"What do you want, Jacobs?" Rick growled, ignoring Tony and staring at the guy. "You're acting like a creep."

"Why do'ya say that?" Jacobs wondered with narrowed eyes as he glanced for half a second toward Morty, who looked extremely nervous as he stared back.

"Maybe because you're taking way too much interest in a fucking fourteen year old kid?" Rick noted. "I don't want you hanging around my grandson. I shouldn't fucking have to tell a grown man that, but there you fucking go. Don't talk to him. Don't look at him. Stay away from him."

"Give him some credit, man," Jacobs laughed. "He's fourteen, not five. I know he's a kid, but he's still a person. I enjoy talking to him. I can be friends with a teenager. There's no harm in that. He's smart enough to carry a conversation and he's in here just like the rest of us. Why shouldn't he be allowed to be social?" Jacobs shrugged.

Rick balled his hand into a fist, but held back the urge to start a commotion here in front of everyone - including several guards. No fucking way did this guy want to be around Morty because the boy was 'smart enough to carry a conversation.' No one had ever accused Morty of being smart. This guy was clearly after something else.

"I'm not gonna say it again," Rick threatened. "Don't fucking talk to him. No grown fucking man wants to be friends with a god-damned fourteen year old, you fuckin' creep."

Jacobs's smile fell as he stared back at Rick. "I haven't done anything for you to be this upset over, and I don't appreciate the accusations. I'm sorry you don't appreciate your grandson as a person..."

"It's not up for discussion." Rick frowned. "He doesn't need your friendship, and seeing how you only just met him, it shouldn't be much of a loss on your end either. Back the fuck off."

"You feel that way too, Morty?" Jacobs pouted as he glanced in the boy's direction.

Morty stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open for a few seconds before answering. "N-no..." he said in a small voice as he shook his head back and forth. "I-"

"It doesn't matter what he wants," Rick growled as he shoved the guy away.

"Fine." Jacobs offered a grimace and walked away.

Rick sat down where Jacobs had been seated and looked across the table at Morty, who looked quite worried. Rick resisted the urge to press Morty for more information as he carefully sawed off a corner of the meat on his tray. "I'm gonna need to go work on something alone after this, Morty," Rick told him. "I can't do it in the library because the guards keep a better watch there... and I don't want you coming with me because it might be dangerous. I'd like you to stay at the library with these guys while I'm gone."

Morty frowned and his shoulders slumped. "Why can't I go with you?"

"Because a lot of people around here don't like me, Morty," Rick explained. "The second I'm not in that library anymore, there's going to be a risk someone's gonna want to confront me. I don't want you there if that happens."

"I don't want to stay in the library... I want to go with you, Rick." Morty frowned. He looked almost panicked.

"It's safer in the library, Morty," Rick reminded him. "You've got these three guys to watch your back, and the guards watch that place like fucking hawks. You'll be okay."

Morty shook his head. "But what about you? You can't go all alone!"

Rick frowned. Was Morty seriously suggesting that he was going to somehow protect Rick from all these fuckers? "The cloaking device thing doesn't work that way, Morty. You'd just be a liability. You're staying at the library. I can watch my own back better if I don't have to watch yours."

Morty frowned and looked down at his tray on the table. He looked disappointed. "We should stick together..." he said in a small voice without making eye contact with Rick.

"You'll be safe with us," Tony noted as he put his hand on Morty's arm.

"Don't touch me!" Morty suddenly screamed as he flinched back and swatted Tony's hand away. As soon as he'd done so, however, he stared at Tony with wide eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's fine," Tony spoke, but kept his hands to himself now as he looked over toward Rick with a questioning glance.

"We're gonna head back," Rick spoke up as he stood from the table and gestured for Morty to follow. Since pretty much everyone else was in the cafeteria, there was probably less chance of anyone messing with them, and Rick really wanted to talk to Morty alone. Giving him space and not prying wasn't working. Rick needed to know what happened.

xxxxxx


	8. Chapter 8

xxxxxx

Chapter 8

xxxxxx

Morty stood up and stared down at the floor as he followed Rick out of the cafeteria. Out in the streets, hardly anyone was walking around anymore.

"What's going on with you, Morty?" Rick asked once they were alone. "I don't care if you want to keep things to yourself sometimes... That's your choice. If you don't wanna talk about shit, I get that. I get that better than fucking anybody, Morty... But I need to know certain things if you want me to make sure to keep those things away from you. Understand? I don't even necessarily need details. Just a 'keep this fucker in particular away from me.' I don't even have to know why..."

Morty didn't respond. He continued staring down at his shoes as he and his grandfather walked down the sidewalk back toward the library.

"I can tell Jacobs is being weird. That much I can see..." Rick noted. "Is there any problem with Tony, Martin, or Glarcx? I'm wanting to trust them to look after you when I can't... But I need to know if there's anything going on. I won't leave you with someone you're scared of. Trust me when I tell you it'll be much more dangerous for you to be with me than with them, but if any of them gave you reason to believe they would do something to you, tell me, and I'll take care of it."

"Everything's fine," Morty squeaked, but still refused to make eye contact.

"You freaked out just now when Tony put his hand on your arm," Rick reminded him. "Has Tony done anything or said something I need to know about? I'll kick his ass, Morty. I can do that for you. I've done it before..."

"N-no, Rick." Morty frowned, raising his hands in defense. "He didn't do anything. Don't kick his ass..."

Rick narrowed his eyes as he stared at his grandson. He really wanted to know everything that had happened in his absence, but Morty didn't seem to want to tell him. Even so, the kid's behavior and appearance spoke for him. As Rick stared at his grandson, he realized Morty had a very light bruise forming on his cheek. Rick hadn't noticed it earlier.

"Did somebody hit you?" Rick frowned. At the very least, he figured someone or multiple someones had threatened Morty. Even just that possibility pissed Rick off. The obvious violence involved in whatever Morty was hiding made Rick feel even less inclined to just ignore this.

Morty stared up at him with wide eyes. "What? No..."

"Did Jacobs do that?" Rick scowled down at Morty.

"Do what?" Morty squeaked, shrinking down.

"There's a bruise on your face." Rick pointed out. "Did that fucker hit you?"

"There's a bruise on your face too, Rick." Morty frowned and scowled back.

"Yeah, because those fuckers from the shower attacked me last night," Rick told him as he stopped walking and stared down at his grandson. If he expected Morty to be honest, he supposed he needed to be honest too. "Last night I left to go search for resources. Xirth and his friends found me. I gave one of 'em like half a blow-job, bit his dick, and then they beat the shit out of me. I woke up, started making my way back toward the library, and I found you and that creep Jacobs."

Morty stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open slightly. "T-they made you-" He hesitated.

"Yeah, Morty," Rick answered, knowing what his grandson was going to ask. "Two of 'em wanted me to suck their dicks. I was even gonna just do it so they'd leave me and you alone, but the guy started pissing me off, so I bit him. I bit him hard too. Can't say that was necessarily a good idea, but he probably won't be molesting anyone with that dick any time soon. At least there's that. So what about you? Where'd your bruise come from, Morty? I told you the truth about mine. We're in this together, Morty. I can keep people away from you if I know which ones need to be kept away."

"I-" Morty paused and looked down at the ground.

"You can tell me, Morty." Rick promised. As much as he'd wanted to tell himself he could be okay not pressing this issue, not knowing was eating at him. As much as he hoped someone had just hit Morty, he knew that was probably not the case. Morty wouldn't be so unwilling to talk if all that had happened was someone smacking him. He looked down at his grandson and waited.

"J- Mr. Jacobs-" Morty started. "He... He told me not to tell you. He said he'd have his friends hurt you if I did... and that he and they would hurt me again too."

Rick frowned. "He probably already thinks you told me considering how I've been treating him. I won't let him come near you again, Morty."

"He told me he was going to keep other prisoners away from me, but that I had to do something f-for him in exchange." Morty rubbed his arm with his hand and continued staring at the ground. "I told him no, but it wasn't really a question... He wasn't asking me. He was just telling me what he was going to make me do. He..." Morty hesitated and refused to make eye contact with his grandfather. "He took off my clothes and put his hands all over me, Rick... When I tried to fight, he hit me."

Rick felt rage boiling up inside him. He was going to kill that man.

Morty wasn't through explaining. Apparently, once he started talking, he didn't feel content stopping until every detail was out in the open. "I was really scared, Rick. He put his fingers in me, and it hurt. He wouldn't stop, and he s- he said it was gonna be worse next time if I didn't cooperate, and that if I told, he and his friends would all-" Morty stopped talking as tears flowed down his cheeks and he reached out and wrapped his arms around Rick's stomach, and pressed his face into his grandfather's chest as he softly cried. "He said if I told you, he'd kill you... I shouldn't have told you!" He sobbed.

Rick stood still, not sure what he was going to do next as he put his hand against the back of Morty's head and put his other hand gently on his back. Nothing he could say was going to make this better. He was just going to have to kill the guy. That was the only thing that could even almost make this okay.

"Well, isn't that sweet," Xirth's voice spoke up from a few yards away.

Rick looked up and made eye-contact with the guy as Morty shrunk down even closer against him. Xirth had been the one who had grabbed the boy earlier, and threatened to hurt him in the showers. Morty was likely very reasonably terrified.

"Run back to the cafeteria, Morty," Rick whispered to his grandson.

"What about you?" Morty wondered in a tiny voice as he took a step back and looked up at his grandfather.

"Don't worry about me. Just go. You can tell a guard or something if you want... Just get yourself back to the cafeteria. Get back to Glarcx and the others," Rick ordered.

Morty looked conflicted, but finally did as he was told.

Unfortunately, it seemed Xirth's men had surrounded them while they weren't paying attention. Benn - the man who Rick had bitten the previous day intercepted Morty, grabbing him in rough hands and holding him in a strong grip in front of him as he smirked at Rick.

Morty immediately began screaming. "Help! Somebody help us!"

Rick ran toward his grandson, but was stopped when Nedward, the scaly lizard-man and Stewart, the bug-person tackled him to the ground and held him there with powerful hands.

"Get off me! Heeeeellllp!" Morty screamed again as he struggled with Benn. He kept screaming until Benn let go of him long enough to hit him very hard against his temple.

With a whimper, Morty fell to the ground, barely catching himself with his arms before completely collapsing. He lay there on the ground, face down, silent and still.

Rick swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked over at Morty. The boy was not moving, but Benn still stood over him as though waiting for him to jump back up. Benn kicked Morty lightly with his foot, turning him over onto his back. Morty remained motionless.

"You fucked up, Rick," Xirth noted as he walked over to stand between Rick and Morty. He looked down at the boy and laughed. "Doesn't take much to knock down mini-Rick does it, boys? Let's get them into the alley."

Benn lifted Morty's limp body up off the ground and threw him over his shoulder as Stewart and Nedward dragged Rick up and pulled him along.

"Don't make a sound, Rick," Xirth warned. "No matter what we do to you or your little guy here, we can always do worse. Keep your mouth shut, and we'll be careful with him."

Stewart and Nedward held Rick by his arms, but didn't actually seem interested in doing anything to him. They just held him there as though wanting to force him to watch whatever they were going to do to Morty. That was the worst thing they could do to Rick, and they knew it.

"If any of you so much as lay a fucking finger on him, I'll make damn sure you regret it," Rick growled. He wasn't in much of a position to be making threats, but there wasn't much else he could do at the moment.

"Is that so?" Benn stared over at Rick as he dropped Morty onto the ground and knelt down next to him, putting his hand lightly against Morty's face and running his other down Morty's side and then pushing it up under the boy's shirt. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you fucking bit me. We offered you a way to make this easier for him... You bit me instead. So he gets the full package now."

"I'll fucking kill you," Rick threatened, pulling his arms against the two guys holding onto him in very strong grips. He wasn't going to get out of this easily, but he had to try, for Morty's sake. He still had the knife he'd stolen from the cafeteria. He'd pushed it up his sleeve and could feel it against his forearm. He just had to use it wisely. It wasn't a great weapon. He had to make sure he used it exactly at the right moment, or else he'd only accomplish injuring one of the five men. He needed to kill or at least incapacitate them all, unless stabbing one might scare away the others...

Rick gritted his teeth together as he watched Benn move his hands carefully over Morty's stomach and chest, under his shirt, while the boy remained still and silent on the ground, for the moment oblivious to what was happening.

"He's so little, Rick," Benn noted with a smirk. "You must be feeling like shit right about now... It's one thing to get yourself thrown into a violent prison where sexual assault is practically a daily event for most prisoners... but you got this little kid mixed up in this too... and damn... He's just tiny. He stands no chance in here. Hope we don't break him."

It only took a minute or so for Morty to begin to wake back up. He winced and swatted at the hands groping over his chest as he returned to the world of the conscious. As soon as he seemed to understand and remember where he was and what was happening, he began to visibly panic, pushing his hands against Benn's and attempting to crawl backwards away from the man.

"Not so fast." Benn chuckled as he shoved the boy back against the ground and held him down with a large hand over his chest.

Morty groaned and clawed at the hand pressing down over his chest. "Get off me! Let us go... I didn't ever do anything to you... Please!"

"Aww." Benn pouted down at Morty in mock-compassion as he put his free hand on Morty's thigh, rubbing his fingers up and down the inside of his leg. "You didn't ever do anything wrong, did you? Your old man over there kinda roped you into this, kid."

Morty whimpered and tried to pull free of Benn's hands, but was unsuccessful.

"Have at it, Xirth. Earl and I will hold him down," Benn noted as he climbed over Morty and grabbed his arms, pressing them roughly against the pavement over his head. Earl, who Rick hadn't even noticed up until now, came forward and held Morty's ankles. The two men successfully pinned Morty down so that he could barely move under their grip.

"Stop!" Morty cried. "Please let me go! Rick, help me!" He sobbed as he appeared to struggle with no success. Benn held his arms down very tightly. Tight enough that Morty groaned in pain each time he tried to pull them free. Meanwhile, Earl held down his feet while Xirth squatted down next to him and pressed his hand carefully, but firmly against Morty's face, over his mouth, stopping his cries.

"You gotta stay quiet, kid," Xirth told him in a frustratingly calm voice. "Most people around here wouldn't help you anyway, so save your breath. Also, I'm gonna hurt you if you keep screaming. My friends and I aren't monsters. Well, Benn kinda is... But the rest of us are reasonable enough. I don't want to hurt you just for the sake of hurting you. But I could. And I will if you don't cooperate," he threatened as he pressed his hand harder over Morty's mouth.

Morty whimpered under the large hand as tears flowed down his cheeks and he glanced in Rick's direction.

"Let him go, assholes." Rick tugged at his arms. He couldn't quite get a good grip on his knife, nor was he in a position to use it just yet. He needed at least one arm free first, but his captors gripped him too hard at the moment.

"Guess you're lucky your old friend there bit Benn's dick though." Xirth laughed as he moved his hand off Morty's mouth and reached for the boy's pants and put his fingers between the waist band and the boy's skin. "Benn would have hurt you on purpose. I'll be as gentle as I can."

Morty sniffed back tears and tugged at his arms. "Please don't." His voice was actually shaking.

"Don't what? Be gentle?" Xirth laughed as he pushed his hand under Morty's pants.

Rick could do nothing but watch as Xirth groped around between his grandson's legs and as Morty yelped and squeezed his eyes shut. Rick began fighting even harder, if that was at all possible. Stewart and Nedward held onto him with firm hands.

"Get the fuck off of him!" Rick growled. The guys holding onto him were relentless as he struggled with all his might against them.

Morty no longer pleaded as he kept his eyes closed and sucked in frantic, terrified breaths. He was visibly shaking, but mostly quiet. He seemed to be trying to mentally distance himself from what was happening to him. While Xirth groped under his clothing, Morty subtly and uselessly tried to wriggle out of the grip of the three men holding him down, but made no noise besides whimpers and soft cries.

Xirth moved his hand out from under his victim's clothing and yanked Morty's pants down to his ankles in one swift motion. Rick could see his grandson trembling as he struggled to escape. "Turn him over," Xirth instructed his friends.

"Please don't hurt me. Please!" Morty sobbed as the other two men turned him onto his stomach. "Please don't. I won't tell anyone... I won't say anything! I swear. Let me go... Please!"

Benn held Morty's wrists down, pinning them both in one hand as he softly patted the back of the boy's head with his other hand. "Shhh." Benn smirked as he spoke. "It won't hurt too bad. Want me to loosen him up for you, Xirth?"

"No!" Morty screamed and attempted without success to yank his arms out of his captor's grip.

"You don't want to be loosened up? It's painless, kid. Just a finger or two, stretching you out, getting you ready for the real thing," Benn explained.

"No, please don't!" Morty sobbed.

"Suit yourself." Xirth shrugged.

Earl held Morty's feet down as Xirth climbed on top of the boy and pulled his own pants down in the front just enough to take out his penis, which was erect, and obviously much too large for someone Morty's size to take without getting hurt. Xirth wrapped one of his arms around Morty's stomach, pulling him up to his knees. Benn kept his hand on Morty's head, pressing his face against the ground as he held down his hands.

"Don't you fucking dare!" Rick growled as he tried to throw his elbow back and stomped down on his aggressors' feet. That earned him a rather rough punch to the stomach, but the grip around his arms still didn't loosen.

Xirth laughed and leaned down, whispering softly into Morty's ear. "Relax, kid. This is gonna hurt either way, but it'll be so much worse if you don't relax. You can thank your friend, Rick for this."

Morty choked out a sob, and clearly could not bring himself to do as the man advised. He continued struggling and sobbing as he could do absolutely nothing to escape his captor's grip.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Morty whimpered and sucked in very panicked breaths. "No!" Morty gasped between trembling, desperate breaths. "Please don't. Please don't. Please-"

Before Xirth had a chance to decline Morty's pleas once again, Rick finally managed to wrangle one arm free. It was all he needed. He slid the steak knife down his arm, gripped it in his hand, and quickly stabbed Stewart twice in the neck. Stewart gripped his throat as blood spurted from the two wounds and stared at Rick with his mouth hanging open in shock. Rick stared back as blood gushed from the gaping slashes in the guy's neck. He didn't have long, and Rick didn't have time to dwell on it. As Stewart staggered toward him, with one hand outstretched as though hoping for aid of some kind, Rick kicked him so that he fell onto the hard pavement, where he continued sputtering and gasping for breaths through his own blood.

As soon as Rick had attacked Stewart, Nedward seemed scared enough to no longer want to be involved in this. He ran off somewhere - Rick didn't care where at the moment. He lunged toward Xirth next, putting his knife against the guy's throat and slitting it, very deeply, probably before the man ever knew Rick was even there. Time seemed to move in slow-motion as Rick observed Xirth desperately gripping at his throat as his blood spilled out onto the ground as well as all over his captive. Rick noticed Morty did not react at all, other than falling down against the pavement when Xirth lost his grip and the other men holding him down finally let go. Xirth's body fell down onto Morty as Earl moved a few steps back before taking off running. Benn stared at Rick with wide, shocked eyes as he raised his hands in defense and backed away from the older man.

"Take it easy, Rick," Benn spoke in an almost breathless voice as he backed himself further into the alley. His eyes were wide and he looked and sounded frantic. "We didn't mean any harm. Y-you know Xirth wasn't really even going to go through with it... He- he was just tryin' to scare you guys..."

"Fuck you, Benn," Rick growled as he lunged forward, stabbing the guy once in the chest and then in the neck.

Benn grabbed at his throat with one hand and toward Rick with the other as he gasped in pain and shock, trying to get the knife away from his attacker, as if it would matter. Rick stabbed at the man's stomach over and over as he stumbled back. Blood dripped from Benn's mouth as he tried and failed to speak and stumbled back against the alley's brick wall. Benn finally went down and stopped moving, or breathing.

Exhaling, Rick turned back toward his grandson, who he couldn't even see under Xirth's heavy body. He hoped the large man falling on him hadn't hurt him too badly. He pulled the guy up to see that Morty was lying still face-down on the ground. He was covered in the guy's blood, but was not moving aside from obvious trembling.

"Morty-" Rick spoke as he knelt down and grabbed the boy's shoulders, pulling him up off the ground and turning him around so he could see his face. "You okay?" Morty seemed to be in shock. He simply stared ahead for a moment. "You alright, Morty?" Rick repeated.

Morty blinked a few times before staring down at his ankles, where his pants were still bunched up. He looked back up towards Rick, who reached down and pulled the boy's pants back up when it seemed Morty wasn't going to do so himself. "Rick?" Morty spoke in a small, frightened voice.

"Yeah," Rick spoke. "Are you okay? I got to you as fast as I could... Did he hurt you? Do you need a doctor, Morty?"

Morty shook his head. "I-I'm fine... I think. A-are you okay, Rick?"

"I'm fine." Rick noted with a frown. He continued staring at Morty as the boy looked around the alley at the three bodies lying on the ground. There was blood absolutely everywhere. It was really a rather gruesome scene, which Rick was well aware Morty wasn't comfortable with. Rick watched as tears welled up in Morty's eyes, but the kid did not move or say anything. He just kept staring at the scene around him as tears silently fell down his cheeks. Rick reached out and pulled his grandson into an embrace. He clearly needed it.

Morty sniffed back tears as he leaned against Rick's chest and softly cried.

"You sure you're alright, Morty?" Rick asked again. Though he was fairly sure he'd managed to kill Xirth before the guy actually had a chance to follow through with his most harmful intentions, that didn't change the fact that Benn had hit the boy hard enough to make him lose consciousness for several minutes.

Morty nodded.

Rick winced and pulled Morty protectively closer as he noticed several guards making their way into the alley. People around here always seemed to get everything wrong. Rick was probably going to get into trouble for this.

"Where the fuck were you guys five minutes ago?" Rick grumbled as he scowled at the guards.

"Drop the knife! Hands in the air! Both of you!" One of the guards screamed as he ignored Rick's question.

"Nice fuckin' timing, assholes," Rick complained as he tossed the knife, which he hadn't even realized he was still gripping, to the side.

"What have you two done?" Another guard seemed a bit horrified as he looked over the scene.

"It was self-defense," Rick explained in an even voice as he lifted his hands as instructed and watched Morty shakily do the same.

"We'll see about that," another guard spoke as he took Morty's hands and cuffed them behind the boy's back. "We have cameras all over the place. They recorded everything." Another guard cuffed Rick and the two were led away...

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	9. Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

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Rick and Morty were allowed to sit together in the same cell while they waited to hear what was going to happen next. The guards must not have cared that one or both of them could possibly be violent murderers. It seemed like a bad idea to keep them together when they still didn't know what exactly happened to result in three bloodied corpses strewn about the alley where the guards had arrested Rick and his grandson. As far as the guards knew, one of them might kill the other. It was irresponsible and made no sense for a society so hung up on bureaucracy and rules would be so haphazard when it came to their prisons, but that was okay. Rick absolutely did not want to be away from Morty right now, and being locked in an individual cell without any other prisoners around was actually the safest either of them had been since they'd gotten here.

The cell had one bed, which Rick sat on with Morty while they waited. He had his arm around Morty's shoulders, holding him close while the boy was uncharacteristically clingy, leaning into him and occasionally trembling slightly.

"I wish they would have let us clean up a little." Morty frowned as he leaned against Rick's chest. "We're both pretty gross right now. I don't like other people's blood all over me, Rick."

"Yeah, it's kinda gross, isn't it?" Rick noted. He didn't care that much at the moment. The blood caking his hands and lower arms was sticky and was becoming crusty too, but he'd seen and experienced grosser things. Right now, all he cared about was keeping Morty safe, which he'd done. It hadn't been a perfect execution of that plan. Morty didn't escape completely unscathed, but Rick had done what he could, and it was going to have to be good enough.

"What's gonna happen now, Rick?" Morty wondered.

Rick shook his head. "I don't know, Morty... They say they have surveillance footage... If they end up thinking I'm guilty of something, they probably won't think you are. You didn't do anything... There's a good chance I'm going to be facing some kind of punishment for this. They might separate us if they don't think what I did was justified. They made it pretty clear before that murder wasn't allowed around here, and they might consider what I did to be murder..."

"But you had to! It was self-defense... and in my defense. It wasn't murder." Morty frowned. "I didn't want anybody to die, Rick... but what else were you supposed to do? They wouldn't stop otherwise."

Rick shrugged. "Knowing these fucking bureaucrats, I'm sure they've got some kinda fucking paperwork you've gotta fill out before killing someone in self-defense, Morty. These people fuckin' suck. If there's a way to make this seem like I've done something wrong, I'm sure they'll find it. If they send you back without me, you need to tell those guys in the library about Jacobs. Tell Glarcx. And tell Zach. Don't go anywhere by yourself."

"If they think you were wrong, what are they gonna do to you?" Morty frowned. "Do you think you'll be sent to stricter prison? I don't want to go back alone... I don't want you to go somewhere worse than this... They don't do the death penalty here, do they?" Morty grimaced as he stared at Rick.

Rick shook his head. He'd never been arrested for murder - not by these people. "We'll just have to wait and see. Whatever happens though, it won't be forever. I don't follow rules when they're bullshit. I'm not gonna rot in any prison for this fucking shit, and I'm sure as hell not gonna let you either. Even if we're not together after this, it won't be forever. I'll figure something out."

"Rick Sanchez..." a voice spoke as a guard approached the cell. "Come with me."

Rick gave Morty's shoulder a gentle squeeze and stood.

"Cuff your hands first," the guard ordered, shoving a pair of handcuffs through the bars.

Rick rolled his eyes. This guard seemed kinda jumpy. He cuffed his hands behind his back as ordered and stared at the guard.

"Can I come too?" Morty spoke up and started to stand.

"No!" the guard barked. "Stay sitting. Don't move." He opened the cell door and dragged Rick out, closing it behind him.

Rick looked back at Morty and frowned. The boy looked so sad. He hoped they didn't get separated, but he was kind of counting on it at this point. "Remember what I said, Morty. You've got people on your side back there. Use that to your advantage," he advised before he was led away. It was very likely he wouldn't be allowed to see his grandson again for a while. If that were the case, he hoped the people they considered allies in the prison really were on their side, because Morty would have no one else to protect him.

Rick was led into a small room with two chairs and a table. It looked like an interrogation room. The guard locked his cuffs to the chair he was sitting in, which was bolted to the floor. They were really giving Rick no room to fight back - not that he would knowing Morty was in danger here too. Rick was always just a bit less reckless when Morty was involved.

He sat alone, waiting for a few moments until another guard made his way into the room, sitting down in the chair opposite Rick and staring at him.

"What?" Rick growled. "Just get to it, motherfucker." He was tired of everyone right now and at this point didn't want anything sugar-coated or drawn out. He had a fairly good idea of how this process was going to go. There was no need to wait any more to be told he had done something wrong - even though he most certainly hadn't.

"We've reviewed the footage..." the guard spoke in a somewhat nervous voice. "And I want to start by telling you I'm sorry for what happened... I understand why you did what you did."

Rick stared at him. This didn't sound good so far. The guard looked uncomfortable, and was likely feeling guilty for accusing Rick of a crime right now after what he'd just seen on the recordings... but he was still going to do so.

"You were in the right on the first two, Rick." The guard frowned. "But you murdered the last man. That was murder. There's no other way to see it. The first one was in self-defense, the second in defense of your grandson... And the third was nothing but revenge, apparently, because he was backing up. He was surrendering to you... and you stabbed him several times anyway. I completely understand why you were upset. The guy wasn't innocent... But you're not the judge, jury, and executioner, Rick."

"I was this time." Rick scowled at him and raised his eyebrow.

The guard shook his head. "You can't decide someone deserves death. It's not your place."

"Are you telling me you wouldn't have done the same thing? That anyone wouldn't have done the same fucking thing?" Rick growled. "Those five guys attacked me three different times in the two fucking days that I've been here. They tried to rape my grandson. Twice. They put their nasty hands all over him, tried to make me watch... If I didn't kill him this time, I would have had to later. What kind of monster would watch a guy molest his fucking grandson, and then let that guy go?"

"I understand, Rick..." The guard frowned. "But that's not how the law works. If they had done something like that to someone I loved, I might have done the same thing you did. Who knows? But I'm not the law."

"You're working for it." Rick stared at him. "You gotta let me and my grandson go. Everyone in here should see that what's happening is all sorts of fucked up. We're here because we traveled back in time to move my fucking car. You can't tell me avoiding a parking ticket is a bigger deal to you guys than raping kids."

"No... We're not okay with that either. If any prisoner is sexually assaulting someone, they will be dealt with," the guard explained.

"With a little electric shock? You're kinda just pissing 'em off, dipshit." Rick scowled.

The guard shook his head and ignored Rick's remark. "Judging by the surveillance, I can see justifying the first two deaths. Just not the third. He was backing off. You should have gone to a guard and filled out a complaint. You can't just kill people who you perceive as a threat. You've got to leave dealing with those sorts up to us," the guard explained.

"I don't fucking believe this," Rick scoffed and rolled his eyes. "So you seriously fucking did want me to fill out paperwork before defending my grandson against these child rapists?"

"Just the last one," the guard exhaled.

"God forbid somebody takes down a motherfucking pedophile without doing the proper paperwork first," Rick shook his head. "Five guys were gonna force me to watch them molest my fucking fourteen year old grandson. I made them stop, and you all are going to tell me what I did wasn't justified? Your laws are a fucking joke."

"I told you already that I understand why you did it," the guard frowned. "I'm not saying you were awful and the guys who were hurting your grandson weren't in the wrong. I'm just following the law. The last man was surrendering. You didn't have to kill him and you did. The law says-"

"The law is bullshit!" Rick interrupted. "What the fuck is wrong with you people?"

"We enforce the law. We don't have to agree with it," the guard told him.

"Wow. What a fucking rewarding career," Rick muttered. "Something to be real fuckin' proud of."

The guard frowned and shook his head. "Laws are laws, Rick and around here they matter. What you did was murder, according to the law. Someone's got to enforce that law. If it wasn't me, it'd be someone else."

"How noble of you." Rick scowled.

"We'll make sure the authorities take into consideration that the guy was hurting your grandson, but I don't think this is going to completely play out the way you want it to." The guard stood and made his way to the door. "You'll be held in a cell here until your case can be reviewed. The two men who attacked you and Morty and who you didn't murder will be properly dealt with as well. We have their crimes documented on-camera, so they'll be punished for that."

"That Jacobs guy is a molester too," Rick noted. "Check your fucking cameras for that."

The guard nodded slightly and exited the room.

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	10. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

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"You're going back, kid," a guard told Morty as he opened the door and led the boy out of the cell.

"W-Where's Rick?" Morty stuttered.

"He's being held on murder charges," the guard explained. "He shouldn't get the harshest sentence, considering the circumstances, but he was still wrong. We can't allow murderers to live with the other prisoners."

Morty frowned as he felt tears pooling in his eyes. He was scared. He was scared for his grandpa and for himself. Where was Rick going to be sent? Was prison for murder even worse than time prison? Would Rick be okay? And what was Morty going to do without him?

"I-I'm guilty too," Morty stammered. "Let me go with him."

The guard shook his head. "You didn't kill anyone. We saw the footage."

Morty frowned. "So I have to kill somebody now? I can't go with my grandpa unless I kill someone? Is that what you're telling me?"

"No." The guard scowled down at him. "And don't joke about that."

"If I joke about it, can I go with Rick?" Morty wondered.

The guard raised his eyebrows as he looked Morty over. "I don't give a damn about threats, kid. I barely care when someone is actually murdered, considering the scum who are locked up in here. So you can joke about it all you want. I don't act until someone dies, and even then I only do what my job requires. I doubt you're capable of murder."

Morty frowned. The guard was right. Morty didn't think he could kill anyone. He just wanted to be with Rick.

Morty was led back to the place where he and Rick had first been processed when they'd been brought here. "We're gonna let you have a shower even though it's not your scheduled time. Special circumstances, considering you're covered in blood."

"Morty!" The guard who was friends with Rick rushed up to them. "What happened? I can take it from here, Shmark," he told the other guard.

Shmark shrugged and walked off as Zach put his hand lightly on Morty's shoulder and knelt down to eye-level. "What happened, Morty? I heard you and Rick were arrested for murder..."

Morty frowned. "Those guys from before attacked us. Rick killed three of them."

"Oh my god... Are you okay? Is Rick?" Zach frowned. "That's not your or his blood is it?"

"We're both okay," Morty told him. "It's not our blood..."

"Where's Rick?" Zach frowned. "Is he being charged?"

"I think so." Morty pouted. "We were both in a cell together, and then they took him away and never brought him back. Then they brought me back here. He killed them because they were hurting me, Zach. He didn't just murder them for no reason. It's not fair. What did they expect him to do?"

Zach nodded. "I'm working on trying to find a loop-hole to get you guys out of here," he said in a low voice. "Just give me some time. These things are complicated, but I'm going to do what I can. I promise you that. Time prison is strict, but prison for murder is even more strict. This is going to make things more difficult, but I'll do whatever I can."

"Zach, are there other people in the shower this time?" Morty frowned.

"I'll stand guard. Nobody's going to come near you this time," Zach promised.

With shaking hands, Morty got undressed and followed Zach to the showers. Zach stood near the wall while Morty stepped toward a shower head on the edge of the room.

Morty could feel eyes on him, and could sense that they were all looking for different reasons. Some likely were concerned by the blood all over him. Others likely wondered why a fourteen year old was in here with adults. Some had dirty minds and just wanted to look. No matter their reasons for staring, Morty was getting tired of it really fast. He could feel his patience wearing thin.

"Woah, sweet little thing... That's a lot of blood. What did you do?" one of the prisoners laughed as his eyes raked over Morty's body.

"I fucking killed somebody," Morty growled before he could think better of it, as he pulled his hands into fists and stared at the guy.

The other prisoner's smile fell into a frown as he looked Morty over. He turned away and finally stopped looking. Maybe he believed what Morty had said. That was new... Morty didn't realize he had the power to actually get people to respect him in any way. Until now, everyone had just looked at him like he was an easy target - someone they could take advantage of. But not now... He just shut that guy up fast...

"Don't any of you fucking look at me," Morty threatened. "The last guys who looked at me wrong are cut up in an alley in there. You got that?"

"Holy shit..." Morty heard one of the prisoners mutter to himself.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" another whispered.

"He's so little though..." another whispered.

"Sometimes the little ones are the most vicious," one of the prisoners noted in a low voice.

"I can still fucking hear you!" Morty growled. He was on a roll now. He never knew he could actually get people to be frightened of him. It wasn't something he ordinarily enjoyed, but it seemed useful in here. "Stop talking about me. Just shut the fuck up and finish showering! This isn't a fucking middle school. Don't gossip. I've killed for less!"

"Morty-" Zach's low voice pulled him out of the moment. Morty was breathing rather frantic breaths. He had gotten a little too into his lies, but they seemed to be working so well. He couldn't just let that go.

"See? I have to have an actual fucking guard stand here while I shower, because they know I'll fucking kill people for using too much soap. He's here for your own good, fuckers!" Morty continued.

Nobody dared look at Morty at this point, except Zach, who leaned closer so no one else could hear him as he spoke. "You might want to tone it down, Morty."

"Nobody's taken me seriously until now, Zach," Morty spoke in a low voice as he rinsed the dried, crusted blood off of himself. If he didn't have Rick with him here anymore, he was going to have to protect himself, and that meant he couldn't afford to appear weak.

He glanced over at Zach, who stared at him with a frown. He could see the guard's eyes roaming up and down his body, but not in a creepy way. He was taking in all of Morty's injuries. After being attacked three different times, Morty had bruises up and down his arms and legs, over his ribs, and probably everywhere else. "You can report people if they hurt you in here, Morty," Zach told him. "Are all those bruises from the dead guys? You can report anyone left... I can't promise much will happen, but it's worth a shot."

"It's not worth a shot." Morty stared back. He knew Zach meant well, but he was simply wrong. "The guys who threatened me and Rick in here when we first got here - guards actually saw what happened... and they barely got punished. It just made them more angry, so when they attacked us again later, they wanted to hurt us more. I'm not reporting anyone. I'm not telling the guards anything."

Zach continued staring, his eyes roaming over finger-shaped bruises on Morty's arms and legs, bruises from fists on his stomach, back, and sides...

"Stop looking at me, Zach," Morty requested in a small voice. He didn't want to be mean to the guy, but he didn't want him staring either. Acknowledging his injuries wasn't going to make them go away. Zach's sympathetic stare wouldn't make all the dangerous people in this prison disappear.

Zach nodded and looked out over the other prisoners as Morty lathered up some soap in his hands and cleaned himself up.

Other prisoners took a step back as Zach led Morty out of the shower, through the air drier, and into the locker room. Morty got dressed and stared up at Zach.

"How long am I gonna be locked up here?" Morty wondered.

Zach shook his head. "Until I find a loophole. That's the one good thing about all these rules - when all these regulations are written down so meticulously, there's always bound to be a way out of trouble almost as easy as there is a way into it."

Zach led Morty down the sidewalk toward the library. As usual, other prisoners stared. Morty attracted a lot of attention, mostly because he seemed to be the youngest person here. He was also definitely one of the smallest. Even prisoners who weren't looking to take advantage of him being an easy target for their sexual advances were intrigued or amused by his presence.

"Daddy taking you to school, little boy?" A prisoner laughed as they walked past. His friend high-fived him and chuckled.

"He's escorting me so I don't fucking kill anyone!" Morty yelled back.

The two prisoners laughed. "Tough little guy." One of them smirked.

"We'll see how tough he is when Daddy's not here." The other one laughed.

"Fuck you!" Morty screamed. "I'll rip off your fucking face!"

"Morty," Zach hissed. "Stop. You're just pissing people off. It's one thing to talk a good game, but at some point you're gonna have to deliver if you expect people to believe what you're saying. You've gotta tone it down. It doesn't work as well without the blood to back you up. You looked like a crazy monster-child back in the showers. People believed you because you were covered in someone else's blood. You aren't now. Just try to lay low until we can get you out of here."

Morty reluctantly agreed. He wasn't usually so aggressive, but ever since he'd made up that lie in the showers, he'd felt a little more powerful, and a little more in control of the situation... But Zach was right. The prisoners he'd just yelled at didn't look scared. They looked amused. They didn't believe him.

Zach led Morty into the library where Glarcx, Tony, and Martin were playing a board game. They looked up when the other two entered.

"What's going on?" Glarcx frowned. "I heard you and Rick killed some people... Word on the street is that Xirth and two of his goons are dead. What happened?"

"They attacked us. Rick fought back," Morty explained.

"They're holding Rick on murder charges, it seems," Zach added with a frown.

"Are you alright, Morty?" Glarcx frowned down at him.

Morty nodded.

"I suggest you four stay together at all times," Zach noted as he made his way toward the door. "Take good care of him, guys."

Glarcx nodded as Zach left. He put his hand on Morty's arm and led him away from the others. "What exactly happened?" he asked.

"The guys from the shower attacked us." Morty sighed, getting tired of re-telling this story. "Two of them were holding Rick down, two were holding me down, and one was hurting me. Rick had a knife from the cafeteria. He got free and killed three of them. I guess they didn't think it was self-defense enough. They kept Rick. I'm here all alone now."

"You've got us, Morty." Glarcx offered a small smile. "Things usually work out for the best in the end. Everything will be okay."

"You say that." Morty frowned. "But you're here locked in a prison. Things aren't working out well at all..."

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	11. Chapter 11

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Chapter 11

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Morty stared with disinterest at the board game on the table in front of him as Martin attempted to explain the game to him. He really didn't care about playing it, but there was nothing else to do here. Now that Rick was gone, he had no one else to talk to and nothing productive to do. He didn't know how to invent things like Rick did, had no plan whatsoever of how to get out of here or how to reunite with Rick beyond actually murdering someone, which he really didn't want to resort to...

He pretty much felt utterly trapped and hopeless. He had no choice but to try to find something to occupy time until hopefully Rick or his guard friend could figure something out to get him and Rick out of here. Even that was difficult though. There weren't exactly an excess of fun things to do around here. There was no television or internet, the books in the library were mostly in alien languages, and he couldn't exactly go walk around without the fear of someone attacking him. Playing board games with these guys who were still pretty much strangers to him seemed like the best it was going to get for the time being.

"It's kinda like Flembnorknax Checkers," Martin explained as he placed six colorful game pieces on each side of a square, checkered board.

"I don't know what that is." Morty frowned as he looked down at the board. This game looked overly complicated already. "I know checkers... Just, you know, like normal checkers... Maybe you call it Earth-checkers... I dunno. But you play with just one color each, and you get more than six pieces... and only play with two people."

"Ah, well... I think this is quite different then," Martin explained. "Each piece is worth a certain number of points." He pointed to each one and counted off, indicating that each was worth one more point than the last. "You've got to attack other people's pieces, and knock off points, based on a roll of the dice. The strategy comes in when you decide if you want to go after strong pieces with your weaker ones, to take out the big guns and risk your small ones, or use your big ones and take out all the little guys, but then risk turning your big guys into weaker guys when the other pieces fight back."

"Sounds really confusing." Morty frowned. "How long have you guys been locked in here?" He gave up on learning the game in favor of learning more about the circumstances his new acquaintances were in. As far as Morty was concerned, he might be stuck in here with these guys for the rest of his life. He figured he might as well get to know them.

"I've been here twenty years," Martin told him. "But that's not Earth years. I think it's about half that in earth years, give or take a year or two."

"About sixty Earth years here," Glarcx told him.

"Wow..." Morty frowned. "Just for using time travel? That's... That seems really harsh."

"I've been here just sixteen years, or I guess about eight or nine in your world," Tony explained.

"Is the sentence the same for everyone?" Morty wondered. "Are we all in here for life?"

"It varies based on your species' average life expectancy. My kind lives a very long time," Glarcx explained. "Tony's kind doesn't. Neither does yours, Morty."

"Really?" Morty frowned. "I kinda felt like humans live a really long time. My life has been really long so far..."

Glarcx smiled. "You should spend ten earth years here, fifteen, maximum if I had to guess... They take time traveling crimes very seriously, but don't consider that anyone needs to spend the rest of their life locked away for it. It's a heavy sentence, but not the worst thing that could happen. And it's based on your life expectancy, not your crime. Traveling through time and destroying a civilization holds the same significance to these people as traveling through time to take back a bad haircut."

"Why?" Morty crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. "That doesn't make sense. No offense, but that's bullshit." He and Rick had time-traveled just to reverse a parking ticket Rick had gotten. They were being punished the same amount as if they'd destroyed a whole planet. That didn't seem fair.

"They figure it's just as irresponsible either way. Anything you change about the past could drastically change the future in ways you cannot even imagine." Glarcx explained. "I, for example, went back in time to save my spouse from death. I saved him, and he's still living without me... as far as I know... But someone else died in his place. Him not dying made someone else suffer his fate for him. In the original timeline, he was murdered, you see, and the murderer went after someone else when my husband wasn't where he had been in the original timeline. This other person perhaps would have influenced the world in all sorts of ways, and he won't now... And then my husband is now able to influence the world in ways no one would have originally. Will it make a big difference? Who knows...? But it could. Just like whatever you and Rick did could make a difference, even if it doesn't seem like it should."

"We just traveled back in time and moved his car." Morty frowned.

"Maybe altering the flow of traffic caused an accident. Maybe his car not being there let someone else park there and do something they wouldn't have originally. You can never know what would have or wouldn't have been," Glarcx said.

Morty shrugged. "I still don't see why they should care so much. Like maybe your husband will make a better difference to the world or universe, or whatever... than the guy who died instead. Maybe the guy who died would have killed more people or polluted a lot or burned down a rain forest. Maybe him dying and your husband being alive is better for everyone. It's not necessarily a bad thing to change the timeline - just different. Who cares?"

Glarcx shrugged. "The original timeline always wins, Morty. I think they kind of see it as unfair to alter what has already happened because they consider it as what should happen. They don't care if it's good or bad because everything effects everything. It's all connected and they feel it must not be altered for fear or over-alteration by people who mean well but who would ultimately create chaos and alter the timeline so significantly that no one would ever know what should have or would have been. A horrible event could lead to an important scientific discovery or the birth of an influential world leader. Taking that event away seems good, but ultimately takes away things we didn't want gone. It's complicated, but you're right... also subjective."

The three of them looked toward the door as it opened. The library was a public place. Most people just stayed away, either because they couldn't read any of the languages represented in the few books there, or because they knew guards kept a good watch on the library (the books were one of the few things of any value in the prison, and the guards didn't want them destroyed or stolen.)

Morty swallowed nervously and shrunk down when he noticed Mr. Jacobs was the person entering the library. He'd told Rick what the man had done, but he didn't tell these guys. He also didn't know what Jacobs would do to him if he made a scene at this point. The guy had claimed to have friends who wouldn't mind helping him hurt Morty, and Morty didn't know how many friends he was talking about. It might be in his best interest to just keep quiet, stick with the library guys, and hope for the best.

"Hey." Tony smiled and waved to the man. He'd mentioned before that Jacobs was his friend. He must not have known the guy was a creep, because Tony seemed really nice so far and had never made any indication of being anything like Mr. Jacobs.

Jacobs smiled back and then looked toward Morty. "Hey, little guy." He grinned. "Where's grandpa?"

Morty frowned and didn't answer.

"Rick killed a few people who were messing with his grandson," Glarcx spoke in an even tone, almost as though it was a threat. Morty looked over to the jelly-like man. Glarcx seemed to suspect something, even though Morty hadn't ever told him what Jacobs had done to him. The minor incident in the cafeteria clearly had him suspicious.

Jacobs chuckled. "Guess that's what they get for messing with Morty." He winked toward Morty and made his way over toward one of the book shelves closest to where the boy was seated. "If your grandpa hadn't done it, I would have. Nobody needs to be messin' with our little friend. We stick together around here, right guys?"

"That's right." Tony nodded.

Morty sunk down in his chair. He wasn't sure what Jacobs was up to, but he wanted the guy to stay away from him. The library was supposed to be a place he felt relatively safe. He did not feel safe here right now.

"Let's get back to the game," Martin suggested.

"Mind if I join ya?" Jacobs put his hand on Morty's shoulder and leaned over him, faking interest in the board game.

Morty shrunk down, but didn't want to make a scene. Jacobs had warned him of what would happen if he didn't keep his mouth shut. Even though the man could no longer threaten Rick, Morty was still scared of what he might do. These three guys in the library couldn't protect him forever, and if Morty did ever find himself alone with Jacobs, he wanted to at least live through it.

Still leaning over Morty, Jacobs moved his fingers slowly over the boy's shoulder, but looked down at the board game on the table - almost as though trying to convince everyone else in the room that he barely even noticed Morty and was only interested in the game. He was leaning awfully close though, and his hold on Morty's arm was becoming tighter as he stood very close, leaning his pelvis against the back of Morty's chair as he gently and slyly pulled the boy backward toward him.

With a small whimper, Morty shrugged out of the guy's grip and stood up. "Take my place," he offered as he gestured toward his chair. "I don't understand it anyway. I've never been into board games. You'll like it more than I would, I'm sure," he offered a nervous laugh as he rattled off any excuses he could think of for standing up so suddenly. "I need to stretch my legs too, so just take my spot and... you know, have fun... I-I'm goin' for a walk." He quickly made his way toward the door.

"Well, don't go alone, Morty." Martin frowned.

"I could go with you," Jacobs offered. "I don't really need to be playing board games when what I really need is a bit of exercise. It's easy to just sit around doing nothing in here. It's not healthy."

"No," Morty raised his hands and shook his head. "I-" He hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Just- just stay here... I won't go far... D-don't worry about it. I'm just gonna- I, uh... I'll be back in a little while... I-"

Jacobs frowned and was beginning to look angry, but didn't say anything to reveal that feeling in the presence of the others. Morty could tell the guy was getting frustrated with him though.

"I've been meaning to head down to the locker room and file for a new shower slot, so I needed to head out anyway. I'll go with him," Glarcx offered and stood from his seat, following Morty out of the library.

Morty quickly exited and leaned his back against the side of the building as Glarcx walked out and stood a few feet away. The air felt so stuffy all of a sudden. Morty looked up, wishing he could see the sky or feel wind. The entire facility was indoors. It was wide and open like a town, but there seemed to be no circulating air. He felt like what air was in here was heavy and suffocating.

Leaning back against the wall, Morty inhaled a few shaking, shallow breaths. He wanted out of here so badly. He wanted away from Jacobs, away from the awful, old, rotten smell of this entire place. He wanted to be with Rick.

"You okay?" Glarcx finally asked as he took a cautious step forward.

Morty nodded but didn't speak as he continued breathing in the heavy air. It hadn't seemed so heavy before. "Is there even any oxygen in here?" Morty winced as he started feeling panicked. "They know humans breathe oxygen, right? Is there oxygen in here?"

"Yes, Morty." Glarcx frowned. "There's oxygen. I think you're having some kind of minor panic attack. Let's go sit down somewhere."

Morty nodded and let Glarcx put his hand on his back, leading him down the sidewalk until they found a bench. He sat Morty down and seated himself next to the boy. He also had the good sense to keep his hands to himself, but leaned in fairly close.

"Just breathe in and out, Morty," Glarcx suggested. "You're okay."

Morty inhaled a few shaking breaths as he tried to calm himself down.

"If Jacobs is becoming a problem for you, I can take care him for you," Glarcx spoke in a low voice.

Morty breathed in and out a few more breaths as he looked over toward the jelly-like man. "W-what?" he asked, his voice small and shaky.

"I can get rid of him, Morty," Glarcx said. "I've gotten rid of people before... I don't know if he hurt you or threatened you... I don't know what's going on, and I don't need to if you'd rather keep it to yourself, but just say the word and he'll never bother you again."

Morty shook his head. "You'll just get arrested too. Don't get yourself in trouble for my sake... You'll have to be in prison even longer and- and I'll be even more on my own."

"I won't face punishment. If you need me to take care of him, I can do that, no questions asked, no evidence left behind. No one ever has to know," Glarcx explained. "No one knew last time."

"They didn't know you killed the guy who attacked you before? How did you not leave behind evidence? What about the surveillance cameras?" Morty frowned.

"When I suffocate people, my body digests their corpse fairly quickly," Glarcx explained. "The cameras aren't often inside buildings. Ironically enough, any dark corner where someone might attack you is less likely to be monitored. No one ever knew what happened to the guy I had to get rid of. No one could figure out where he'd gone. They all thought he escaped. I'm the only of my kind here, and people don't understand what exactly I'm capable of. I'd probably be in solitary if they knew... Sometimes it pays to not be understood, I guess."

"Wow..." Morty stared at him as he thought about the fact that this person could kill pretty much anyone he wanted to. He supposed it was good he was a friend.

"You want me to take care of him?" Glarcx asked.

Morty hesitated. Choosing to give the order to end another man's life was a pretty heavy decision. Even though Mr. Jacobs had done terrible things to him and threatened to do worse, Morty wasn't sure he could just decide that the man should be dead.

"No questions asked, Morty." Glarcx reminded him. "You don't need to explain anything to me. You can keep anything you want to yourself. I trust your judgement, and I will make sure he never bothers you again if that's what you ask."

"Wh-" Morty stuttered. "Why do you trust my judgement? You don't even know me... You'd just kill someone, just like that? Just because I told you to? What if I'm lying and you kill someone who didn't deserve it?"

"I can read people pretty well, Morty. You and your grandfather are good people. I can see that. I can also read Jacobs, and he seems like he's up to something. Rick was right when he seemed suspicious about Jacobs wanting to be so close to you. It's not right. But just say the word, and you'll never have to worry about him again," Glarcx offered once more.

"T-that's a lot of pressure." Morty frowned. Glarcx had been nothing but kind to him, and this seemed like a hell of a favor, but it also seemed so dirty and wrong. "I mean... I don't know if I can ask you to kill somebody."

"It's up to you," Glarcx spoke.

"I know..." Morty looked down at the ground. "I don't think I can ask you to do that..."

"Why not?" Glarcx wondered. "Does he not deserve it?"

"I- I don't know." Morty frowned. "But neither do you. You don't even know what he did... How could you kill someone when you don't even know what they did?"

"Because you seem upset, and I trust that you wouldn't seem so bothered if the guy hadn't done something to you, something you didn't deserve," Glarcx explained.

Morty looked down at the ground again. "He did do something... But I can't ask you to kill him for it. I can't make that choice."

Glarcx nodded and leaned back against the bench as he looked out over the various buildings within the prison. He looked like he was deep in thought.

"Don't kill him, Glarcx." Morty reminded the guy. "I- I said I can't make that choice, but I don't want you making it for me either. J-just leave it alone... Jacobs did some bad things, but I don't think I can say he deserves to die. I'm not like Rick, and I don't want you making choices like his in my name. I can't tell him what to do. He won't listen... I don't know if you will, but I'll ask you anyway. Don't kill Mr. Jacobs. Not for my sake."

Glarcx nodded but didn't speak.

Morty bit his lower lip as he wondered what the man was thinking. He looked down the sidewalk. Rick had told him he'd set up a workshop in an abandoned building, inside the wall of a particularly nasty closet. He wondered if he could find it and figure out how to finish what his grandfather had started. Maybe it was time for Morty to take charge here and get him and Rick out of this on his own. If Rick could build amazing inventions from nothing, maybe Morty could too, if he just tried harder...

"Glarcx?" Morty spoke up. Glarcx looked toward him and waited. "Will you come with me to find the workshop Rick started? I really don't know exactly where it is, but maybe you and I could figure something out - finish whatever he was working on. We can get you out of here too."

"I'm okay with serving my time, Morty," Glarcx smiled. "But I can accompany you and see if I can help."

"He said it was in a closet in an abandoned building... but all the buildings look abandoned," Morty noted.

With a nod, Glarcx stood. "I already know where it is, Morty. He told me."

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	12. Chapter 12

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Chapter 12

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Glarcx led the way down the sidewalk until they reached a very unwelcoming building that looked like it was ready to collapse. No one was inside, fortunately, as Glarcx led Morty through the main room, into a closet and began pulling away part of the wallpaper.

Morty stood silently and watched as Glarcx folded down a piece of the wall into a sort of work bench and pulled away more wallpaper to reveal cubby-holes Rick had seemingly carved into the wall. There were bits of wire and glass, an unfamiliar-looking coin, and an old fork stuck in the holes. Unfortunately, Morty's idea of what might be stashed in here was not at all accurate. This didn't resemble Rick's workshop at home in their garage at all. It didn't look like Rick had really even begun working on an invention of any kind. Not unless it was hidden someplace else.

"Doesn't look like he'd made much progress, Morty." Glarcx frowned as he looked at the random bits of debris Rick had collected. "In his defense, it's hard to find useful materials in here. Even a brilliant scientist can't make something out of nothing."

Morty grabbed the fork and looked at it. He had kind of hoped to find some nearly-finished invention just waiting for him to figure out one last bit of information to complete it. There was nothing here. Nothing useful. Even so, Morty decided to keep the fork and bits of wire and glass. He stuffed the things into his pants pockets. Maybe he could just invent something himself, though he had no idea how to make anything...

"Do you know anything about science or inventions, or y-you know, like inventing things?" he asked Glarcx.

Glarcx shook his head. "It takes a special kind of mind to invent something out of bits of wire and glass, Morty. I'm just not capable. Perhaps Rick will figure something out from where he is and come back for you. He's a smart man, Morty. If anyone can figure something out when things look dire, it would be him."

Morty frowned and looked down at the empty makeshift workbench. Whatever Rick had planned to create never even got a chance to be made.

"You make this too easy," Mr. Jacobs's voice spoke out from behind them.

Morty gasped and spun around, backing himself against the closet wall as he noticed the man who had previously assaulted him standing in the closet doorway, making the already cramped space seem even tinier. Tony stood with him. Morty frowned. Did Tony have any idea what Jacobs was really like? Why was he here?

"Tony-" Glarcx spoke in a calm voice. "What's going on? What are you guys doing here?"

"Why don't you head back to the library so Martin isn't alone?" Tony suggested to Glarcx. "We want to teach Morty some self defense. Better he learn it from someone who doesn't have a body made of jelly, you know? Someone more like him? So it'll be something he, as a little human can actually use."

Morty gulped and shook his head, hoping Glarcx wouldn't fall for this. "N-no..." Morty stammered. "I-I'm good. That-that's okay. Glarcx and I will both go back."

"Come on now, little kid..." Jacobs frowned and took a step forward.

Morty winced and tried to step back further, but his back was already against the wall.

"Say the word, Morty," Glarcx spoke in a low voice. "No cameras in here."

Morty shook his head and began to panic. "Just stay back, M-Mr. Jacobs." He honestly didn't want Glarcx to hurt the man... but he didn't want Jacobs to hurt him either. He just wanted everyone to leave him alone and let him exist without fear.

"You're never going to be able to protect yourself if you don't learn some self-defense, Morty." Jacobs went on with a smirk. "With your grandfather no longer here, you're pretty defenseless. I can help you. You're completely defenseless, little kid," he said again.

"No, he isn't, Jacobs," Glarcx spoke up. "He doesn't want what you're offering. You can leave now. Tony, I'm ashamed of you."

"What?" Tony looked shocked. "Why?"

"Because this man is obviously behaving like a predator, and you're enabling it. Morty would like you both to stay away from him right now, and you aren't honoring that. That's shameful," Glarcx explained.

Morty stared back and forth from one man to the next. Tony hadn't ever looked angry in Morty's presence, but he looked angry now. Seemingly without even a second thought, he lunged toward Glarcx and the two began to fight.

Morty tried to step out of the way, tripped over his own foot, and ended up on the floor. Within seconds, hands were on him, dragging him up off the floor and slamming him against the closet's wall.

With a wince, Morty squeezed his eyes shut in pain for a moment before opening them and staring at Jacobs, whose strong arms held him up off the ground and against the wall. Jacobs pressed one thick arm across Morty's chest to hold him in place while he reached his other hand down between Morty's legs.

Morty cried out in pain as his attacker's hard hand squeezed between his legs, through his pants. It wasn't a gentle touch at all. Jacobs's plan of being careful while abusing his victim had gone out the window at some point. He didn't even seem to want to try to be gentle anymore. He was hurting Morty on purpose.

Clawing his own hands desperately at his attacker's, Morty winced. "Ow! Stop!" he begged as Jacobs squeezed painfully and leaned closer to him.

"I told you to keep your fucking mouth shut. Maybe I need to shove something in there to keep you from talking for a damn minute," Jacobs threatened.

"No! Please!" Morty screamed, squeezing his eyes shut as Jacobs's hand moved from between his legs only long enough to slide under his pants and grab him again, just as hard, only without the protective layer of fabric. Morty sobbed, reaching his hands down toward his attacker's. It was then that one of his fingers brushed over a shape protruding from his pocket. The fork he'd taken from Rick's makeshift workshop.

With fear in his chest, Morty gripped the fork in a tight fist. He didn't wait long before using it, and he didn't hold back. He knew he needed to hit the man where it counted. If he stabbed him somewhere useless, like the arm or chest, he'd only make him angry. The fork's prongs weren't long enough to do serious damage in most places.. So Morty slammed it right into the man's eye.

"Aah! You fucker!" Jacobs let go of Morty and brought his hand up to his face. Morty landed on his feet, but before he could scramble away, however, Jacobs reached out his other hand, as a fist, and slammed it against the side of Morty's face.

Morty fell to the ground with a pained wince. His vision swam. Jacobs hadn't held back much with that punch. It was quite disorienting. Morty lay against the ground, inhaling pained, shaking breaths as he glanced over toward Glarcx, who seemed to be winning his fight against Tony. He'd sucked the man's leg into his jelly-like body, and that must have been painful judging by the fear in Tony's eyes and the screams coming from the man. How did none of the guards hear this? Maybe they did and just didn't give a damn...

Morty shuddered and tried to crawl backwards on shaking limbs. He backed himself into the corner in time to see Jacobs closing in on him. He had removed the fork from his eye, and blood ran down his face. He held something shiny in his hand. At first Morty thought he held the fork, but then he saw it was a knife, and not even the kind from the cafeteria. Morty wondered how he'd gotten it in here.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Morty backed up as far as the wall allowed as he kept his eyes trained on the knife.

"Take off your clothes," Jacobs ordered in a low, growling voice as he scowled angrily down at his victim. Blood still ran down his face. He looked like he was in quite a bit of pain.

Morty shook his head. "No..." he squeaked.

Jacobs's mouth twitched. He too-calmly squatted down and brought his knife up against Morty's throat. "Take off your clothes... Fucking now!" he said again in a very angry voice that was even more threatening and demanding than before.

Morty whimpered. He felt his whole body shaking. The knife was cold and threatening against his neck. He didn't want his throat cut, but he wondered if Jacobs would spare him anyway at this point. If he cooperated, he'd probably only be hurt more before being killed. After he'd stabbed the guy's eye with a fork, there was really no turning back. He had to give fighting back his all, or he was going to die in this closet.

So Morty reached with a quick hand up toward the man's arm. Only due to the fact that Jacobs wasn't expecting it, Morty was able to shove his arm back a few inches and dodge out of the way.

Jacobs was quick, however, and grabbed him back up within seconds, slamming him down against the ground. Morty kicked out against the man, determined to make this as difficult for him as possible. If he was going to die, he was at least going to die fighting.

Unfortunately, Morty was very outmatched. Jacobs hit him very hard across the face. Morty saw spots before his eyes and lay still for a moment as he felt Jacobs tugging at his shirt.

"No!" Morty gasped, reaching his hands down toward his shirt and trying to hold it down. Jacobs was too strong. He yanked the shirt up over Morty's head and tossed it to the side before pressing the knife's blade threateningly against the boy's chest.

"Hold still, or I'll cut you." Jacobs threatened as he reached his other hand down and began tugging Morty's pants down his thighs.

Morty felt tears spilling down his cheeks as he gripped weakly at his attacker's hand and debated silently with himself whether he should keep fighting or not. Was Mr. Jacobs planning to kill him? Would cooperating at least spare Morty his life? Or was he doomed at this point? "W-what are you going to do to me?" he finally just asked.

Jacobs smirked down at him. "Oh, lots of things," he laughed, pressing the knife down enough to scare his victim, but not enough to do any damage. "If you wanna live through it, you better stop fighting. If you don't hold fucking still, maybe I'll stab your fucking eyes too, you little brat."

There was no way Morty could just hold still and let this progress any further. It was very likely fighting back would get him killed - he was much smaller and weaker than Jacobs, but it was very clear this wasn't going to be like last time. Mr. Jacobs wasn't going to put any effort into being gentle. He was quite clearly pissed and wasn't going to hold back.

Morty felt his lower lip tremble, but he squeezed one hand into a fist and readied himself to fight. With his other hand, he reached toward the knife, pushing against the man's arm less successfully this time, before punching at the guy's face and slamming his knee up between his attacker's legs all at once.

"Fuck!" Jacobs growled. "Fine! If you would rather fucking die, then fine!" he yelled out as he brought the knife up into the air as though ready to stab Morty with it.

Morty sucked in a breath as he wondered how he was going to get out of this. He didn't have to wonder for long though, as Glarcx seemed to have finished his scuffle with Tony. He tackled Morty's attacker to the ground, and even when Jacobs stabbed at his jelly-body with the knife, Glarcx didn't stop. He didn't even react to the man's defensive gestures.

Morty scrambled back into the corner as he breathed frantic, pained breaths and stared at the scene before him. Jacobs continued struggling against Glarcx, who barely seemed bothered. Morty wondered how anyone had managed to attack him and ever do any damage. Glarcx claimed he'd been attacked by people here, but it seemed like a foolish thing for someone to do. He supposed the guy never did say he'd been hurt during those attacks.

He watched in a combination of horror, relief, disgust, and awe as Glarcx sucked Jacobs into his own blue, gelatin body and as the man screamed in agony. The process seemed cruelly slow, but it seemed Glarcx's body was digesting Jacobs even while the man was still alive. Jacobs continued to struggle, and Glarcx occasionally seemed to have to put more effort into subduing the man, but it really didn't look too difficult for him.

Morty swallowed as Jacobs's eyes met his own. The one that wasn't bloody and swollen stared with so much dread. Morty didn't like it. He hated this man, He wanted him gone... But this was disturbing.

As he continued observing Glarcx 'getting rid of' his problem, Morty began to feel sicker and sicker, more and more cold and numb. His breaths felt more and more like they weren't bringing enough oxygen into his lungs. Morty felt his chest rising and falling too rapidly and saw his vision growing smoky as he closed his eyes.

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	13. Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

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Somehow Morty had ended up back in the library. He assumed Glarcx must have taken him there. As his eyes fluttered open, he realized he was lying on the couch he and Rick had been sharing since they'd been incarcerated here and Glarcx and Martin were having a hushed conversation a few feet away. Morty decided to lay still and quiet against the couch he'd woken up on so he could listen in and so the men would not censor their words for his sake.

"Tony was my friend too," Glarcx spoke in a low whisper. "I'm sorry it had to end like this. I'm as shocked as you are, and so very disappointed. I did what I had to, and while I don't feel proud or happy to have had to dispatch him like that, I don't see that there was any other choice. He was a friend. The fact that it came to this makes me feel sick, and angry with myself for being fooled by him for so long."

"Did he know Jacobs was a sexual predator? I mean, did he really know?" Martin sounded upset, but kept his voice down as well. They knew this room was monitored and that they needed to stay quiet.

Glarcx sounded disappointed. "He knew. I wasn't sure at first, but he knew. I don't take this lightly, Martin. You know that. I don't kill out of anything but necessity."

"I know. You did nothing wrong. It's just a shame is all." Martin sounded disappointed as well. "I thought Tony was on our side. He seemed genuine, was kind to all of us, including Morty. He never seemed to be into anything like that."

"I don't know that he was into it," Glarcx spoke. "He didn't really seem to want to do anything like what Jacobs wanted. He was just enabling it. Helping Jacobs get what he wanted. I guess their friendship meant more to him than being a decent person. I don't know how long he knew Jacobs was like that, but it was clear what the guy wanted, and Tony didn't make any attempt to stop him."

"That's kinda sickening," Martin said. "I would have left Morty with Tony. I would have trusted him to keep the kid safe. I had no idea."

"Well, what's done is done," Glarcx sighed. "Best not to talk about it anymore. They're gone, and I know nothing about it. The guards are probably going to ask us about Tony at least, and we're going to need to remain ignorant to it. I haven't seen him since Morty and I took a walk earlier."

"Yeah," Martin agreed. "Haven't seen him or Jacobs since they left here a couple minutes after you two. Don't know anything..." He paced across the room and ended up hovering over Morty, which made it harder for the boy to keep pretending to be asleep. He felt self-conscious knowing the guy was staring down at him. "Is he alright?" Martin wondered.

"I think so," Glarcx answered. "I never wanted to kill anyone right in front of him like that, but they left me no choice. I did what I had to do. He seemed kind of disturbed by what he saw. I think he passed out because the scene was too shocking for him to handle."

"I'll bet," Martin laughed a forced, sarcastic chuckle. "Poor kid..."

"I wonder if we should request a doctor to have a look at him though," Glarcx suggested. "Jacobs was pretty rough with him, from what I saw. He could have a concussion."

"No!" Morty finally sat up. "I'm fine... I don't want to go to a doctor. They'll ask what happened... They'll figure out that we killed them... Then we'll be in trouble. I don't want you to be in trouble, Glarcx. You didn't do anything wrong. Rick's already in trouble for this same thing."

"I understand..." Glarcx frowned. "But if you do require medical treatment, I'd rather you get it than keep this a secret. We can always claim they attacked you and left you there and that we don't know where they went next..."

Morty shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to see a doctor, especially not here where no one with authority of any kind seemed to appreciate or respect personal privacy or comfort. Who knows what kind of bizarre, potentially humiliating exam a doctor might subject him to? They probably wouldn't even be gentle about it. Almost everyone here seemed to view the prisoners with contempt.

Glarcx bent down to look into his eyes thoughtfully. "It's your choice," he spoke as he examined the boy's eyes as though he himself were a doctor. "You're old enough to know if you're hurt and to make the right choice about how to deal with it. I trust you know what's best for yourself... And I'm sorry you had to see what you saw, Morty. I didn't mean to disturb you, and I would have never killed him in your presence if I didn't have to."

"Uh- Well, you did w-what you had to." Morty tried to remain calm about the whole situation even though watching Glarcx pretty much digest living people was pretty horrifying. "At least I don't have to worry about him anymore, right?" He offered a nervous laugh.

"Right." Glarcx nodded with a small smile. "It's probably about lunchtime. Ready to go to the cafeteria? We'll all three stay together, so you don't need to worry about anyone picking on you... Most of your tormentors are dead now," he added with a shrug.

Morty nodded, but he wasn't sure he would actually eat anything. So far, the only meals he'd had here were really weird. They looked and smelled unappetizing to the point that Morty was almost afraid eating them might kill him. He was so hungry, but he couldn't bring himself eat much of the grey sludge and wouldn't try the meat at all. He wasn't convinced the stuff was suitable for human consumption. It didn't even look like actual food.

They made their way into the cafeteria and stood in line. Morty looked around the room, trying to find Nedward or Earl. It seemed like Xirth and Benn had been the most violent and cruel of that group. Maybe the two who had escaped would leave him alone now that they didn't have their friends to back them up. Morty hadn't seen either of them ever since their encounter in the alley. Or maybe Rick had told the guards that they were involved in what had happened and they were actually facing some kind of punishment.

Morty held up his wrist as the cafeteria worker scanned his bracelet and handed him a tray filled with the same questionable stuff as before. The sludge jiggled a bit on the tray and he could almost swear the meat flinched slightly. Morty sighed and followed Glarcx and Martin toward a table.

"Is this the only thing they serve here?" Morty frowned as he looked down at the tray. He didn't even want to look at it, much less eat it... But he was going to starve to death if he didn't start eating something. If he truly was going to be stuck in this place for literal years, eventually he was going to have to give in and eat whatever he could get.

"Unfortunately," Glarcx answered with a small smile. "Food isn't about anything other than sustenance around here. It's not really meant to be enjoyed. They found things they consider most universally nutritionally valuable to any species that might be housed here and also made sure to exclude anything that could be an allergen to anyone. That's why it's so bland."

Morty stirred the grey stuff with his fork. Glarcx had explained last time that it was plant-based. He supposed it couldn't hurt to eat it just so his stomach would stop growling. He took a small bite, nearly gagging at its texture. It was slimy and cold.

"Don't think about it too much," Martin laughed from across the table. "I just eat mine fast. No one actually likes the stuff. It's just better than having your stomach growling all night."

Morty took a larger bite, swallowing it quickly. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to this.

"Hey, kid... You gonna eat that schmlooshnartz?" A small reptilian-looking creature sat down next to Morty and hungrily eyed the meat on his tray. Morty frowned when he looked at the guy. He was one of the smaller people imprisoned here, maybe even smaller than Morty. He shook slightly as he stared nervously at Morty, awaiting his answer. One of his eyes was swollen almost shut and he had somewhat fresh-looking claw marks across his face. Morty wondered if another prisoner had stolen his food. He couldn't go back through the line thanks to the bracelet scanning system. "Huh? You gonna? Can I have that?"

"Leave him alone, Yortz." Martin frowned at the creature and made a waving gesture with his hand. "Get out of here."

Morty frowned. It wasn't like he was going to eat the disgusting meat anyway, and the creature, whose name was apparently Yortz, seemed pretty desperate. "No, it's okay," Morty objected. "He can have it."

Yortz let out a strange, excited squeal, snatched the meat off of the tray, and ran off.

"Don't let him get into the habit of that," Martin warned him. "When you get hungry enough, you're gonna want that schmloosh."

Morty shrugged and reluctantly swallowed another mouthful of the grey substance.

He looked up as Zach, the guard who'd been watching out for Rick and Morty a bit more than the others approached and sat down at the table, across from Morty, next to Martin. He leaned forward and looked directly at Morty. "I need you to come with me, Morty," Zach spoke in a voice that sounded almost urgent.

"I didn't do anything!" Morty nervously gasped as he contemplated getting up and making a run for it. Even though Zach seemed to be a friend, Morty was about tired of this situation constantly escalating.

Zach frowned. "It's not anything like that, Morty. I think I've found a loophole. It doesn't necessarily solve the problem completely, but it's a start. I don't want you getting too excited. You're still not home-free, but you are getting out of this particular prison."

"Oh." Morty frowned. He wasn't really sure if this sounded like a good thing or not. This prison didn't seem as bad now that almost everyone who had seemed to be a threat to him was now either dead or seemingly scared to show his face in public. "Am I gonna be with Rick?" he wondered. That was really all that mattered. As long as they were together, Morty felt a certain degree of safety he could never feel on his own in a place like this.

Zach nodded. "You two will be together, at least for the time being. The future remains somewhat unclear, but for the moment, you and he will be reunited. It'll give him an opportunity to figure something out from there... I can't offer much else. I'm just a guard... This is the best I can do."

"Okay." Morty stood. That was all he needed to know to agree to whatever this was. He had faith Rick would figure a way out now that Zach had opened the door to the possibility.

Zach stood as well, but looked from Glarcx to Martin. "Where's Tony?" he asked with a frown.

Glarcx shrugged. "Haven't seen him since this morning..."

"Alright..." Zach seemed somewhat unsure of that answer, but didn't press the matter. He put his hand lightly on Morty's shoulder in order to guide him to wherever they were going.

"Good luck, Morty." Glarcx reached out and squeezed his hand in a gentle, yet reassuringly firm grip. His jelly-hand felt cold but oddly solid.

"Thanks." Morty squeezed the man's hand back. "Thanks for all your help. You too, Martin. I hope you guys get out of here soon..."

"You're welcome." Martin smiled. Glarcx offered a simple nod before Zach led Morty away from the table.

Morty glanced over his shoulder and offered Glarcx and Martin one last small smile as he and Zach made their way out of the cafeteria. He hoped his friends would be okay, but it didn't seem like something he really needed to worry that much about. They seemed to have figured out prison life pretty well and didn't seem that bothered by being here. He was confident they'd be alright.

"I was talking to your grandfather," Zach explained as he led Morty out of the prison and into the same area he and Rick were taken to before. "He mentioned that you two aren't even originally from this dimension."

"Yeah." Morty frowned. "We kinda... um... We kinda screwed up our entire planet in our dimension. It was this whole thing about the Flu Season Dance and I really wanted this girl, Jessica to like me-" He paused when he noticed Zach staring down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway... It's a long story... But we messed up our planet and kinda just stepped into a dimension where the other Rick and Morty were already dead... We didn't kill them or anything. No harm done, right? Kinda?"

Zach shrugged. "I suppose not... But it opens up a way out of this... Maybe."

"Really?" Morty wondered.

"Well, the law states criminals are to be dealt with in their own dimension, unless said dimension is destroyed. According to your grandfather, the two of you irreversibly altered Earth, but didn't necessarily destroy it, and the rest of your universe is still in-tact." Zach explained. "They're going to send you back there. It doesn't fully get you out of hot water, but it might help. I know your grandfather will figure something out. If nothing else, it'll give you time and a fresh start at a version of this same prison where perhaps your grandfather doesn't have the same enemies."

"I'm pretty sure Rick's got enemies in every dimension," Morty frowned. "I've never met a Rick who wasn't pretty much just as ruthless as the last. They don't exactly make friends easily... But hopefully he'll figure something out on the way, I guess."

"He's a smart man, Morty. If anyone can figure a way out of this, it'd be him," Zach reminded him.

"Okay..." Morty exhaled. He wasn't really sure if this was any better than the situation they were in right now, but he supposed it was worth a try, and at least he would be with Rick again. If nothing else came of it, he could at least tell his grandfather goodbye before they were sent to separate prisons.

... ... ... ... ... ...

Rick and Morty were loaded into a small capsule which was programmed to take them to the nearest interdimensional portal port, which would then return them to authorities in their original dimension. Rick was not willing to allow this to happen, so as soon as they were loaded up and launched into what was due to be a two-hour ride, he immediately began to dismantle and reprogram the ship's routing device.

"What are you doing, Rick?" Morty frowned. "What if you mess it up and crash the whole ship?"

"First of all, Morty, this is barely a ship. Secondly, I won't mess it up. We're going home. I'm sick of this shit," Rick spoke. He was in an even worse mood than usual, which was saying a lot. Every version of every universe was so fucking annoying that it hurt, but this shit was beyond ridiculous.

"Won't they just come looking for us?" Morty frowned as he leaned back in his seat.

"No. I got a plan, Morty," Rick disagreed as he finished programming the route home into the self-guided GPS of the capsule. How fucking stupid were the people who decided to send Rick and Morty back in this capsule with no guards? Of course Rick was going to break into the GPS and send them home instead. Did they expect that he wouldn't?

"Okay." Morty reluctantly agreed and sat back. He was good at not questioning Rick... Sometimes.

"We should be home in a couple hours," Rick noted as he sat down next to his grandson and looked the boy over. Morty seemed even more scuffed up than the last time he'd seen him. His grandson looked exhausted and there was something dark lingering in his eyes, even if his facial expression was relatively content. "What happened?" Rick asked, not needing to elaborate for Morty to know exactly what he was referring to.

"Jacobs and Tony attacked me and Glarcx," Morty frowned.

"Tony?" Rick frowned. He knew the guy had mentioned that Jacobs was his friend. Rick had just assumed Tony didn't realize Jacobs was a fucking creep.

"Yeah," Morty's shoulders slumped and he leaned his head back. "I guess he and Mr. Jacobs were friends. Maybe Mr. Jacobs convinced him to come after us or something... I don't know why he didn't care about what Mr. Jacobs was doing, but he didn't care. Glarcx killed them both though, so there's that..."

Rick exhaled. It was a relief to know Jacobs was dead, because that was a loose end he wasn't comfortable with letting remain untied. He didn't like that his grandson had been attacked yet again, however. "Did they hurt you?"

Morty shook his head. "Not really... A little."

Rick put his arm around Morty's shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"Tony said he was friends with Jacobs before, remember?" Morty asked.

"Yeah." Rick frowned. He recalled that. He'd wondered why Tony would be friends with a creep like that, but he supposed it made sense now - Tony was a creep too.

"I thought he just didn't know what Jacobs was like. Maybe that Jacobs had hid that part of himself from Tony," Morty spoke. "But that's not what it was at all. He knew what Jacobs was going to do, and he didn't care. He attacked Glarcx, and didn't even try to help me when Jacobs grabbed me. I think Jacobs was going to kill me. He had a knife... He was really mad."

Rick tightened his grip around Morty's shoulders but didn't say anything else. There wasn't much he could say. It seemed more than anything, Morty just needed someone to listen to him. Rick couldn't undo what his grandson had endured.

"Glarcx and I found your workshop," Morty told him as he leaned against Rick's side. "I was gonna try to finish whatever you had started working on, but I couldn't find anything."

"I was working on my bracelet, Morty," Rick told him. His grandson hadn't found anything to work with because Rick's project was with Rick, on his wrist. "I never got far, but I was going to reprogram it to control every bracelet in there. I guess I actually still could... I've still got certain people's ID numbers memorized..." He trailed off.

"Anyway..." Morty shrugged. "I found a fork in there... and I stabbed Jacobs in the eye with it. I had to..." He frowned. He wasn't bragging. He was confessing. He felt bad about it. Rick could tell.

"Well, good, Morty," Rick assured his grandson. "The guy deserved it."

"I don't know..." Morty frowned and bit his lower lip. "W-what I did was pretty brutal, Rick... It was really gross and violent and terrible. I stabbed him right in the eye. He had blood dripping down his face... I stabbed him, Rick... Like actually stabbed him.. in the face. Right in the eyeball, Rick."

"What was he doing right before you did that?" Rick wondered.

Morty's face grew red and he looked down at his lap.

"You did what you had to, Morty," Rick assured him.

Morty didn't agree or disagree. Instead he just leaned more heavily against Rick and stared ahead.

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	14. Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

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Rick and Morty arrived home when the capsule not-so-gracefully landed in the front yard, creating a huge dent in the earth. Beth was probably going to be mad about that. Jerry would be more mad, but fuck if Rick cared about that. Making Jerry mad was actually somewhat of a hobby at this point. He knew his daughter wanted her father in her life enough to often take Rick's side even when she probably shouldn't. As long as Rick chose to keep at it, Jerry was going to just have to deal with it. Besides, if his plan worked, the dent in the yard would be remedied along with everything else. It really didn't matter.

He climbed out of the capsule and made his way toward the garage.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would," Morty noted as he stumbled out of the now-crashed flying machine. "And considering how hard it looks like we crashed into the ground, it doesn't even feel like a car accident or anything. I mean, l-looking at that-" He gestured toward the crashed ship and shook his head with a shrug. "You know... I'd expect us to maybe even be dead, but we're fine. Look at it... It's like half-embedded in the ground, Rick. We should build cars here however these things are built. Then when people wreck, they won't die as often."

Rick shrugged. "For all their faults, those sons of bitches make good space vehicles. Too bad they use any brains they have to make and enforce volumes upon volumes of bullshit rules instead of spreading this kind of technology to other planets. Their priorities are real fucked up, Morty. But hey, we got to use one of their dumbass super fucking space-cars and we're here, so I guess it worked out in our favor after all. I'm sure the last thing you'd want right now would be being stuck in a fucking space ship for forty years just to go to a fucking prison full of Cronenbergs."

"We would have still been in New Xelnar though, Rick. I mean, I think so. I think that's what they were gonna do... Send us to the same prison? Just a different version of it. There wouldn't be Cronenbergs there. They wouldn't have sent us back to Earth. They just wanted us to be in our original dimension - not on our original planet," Morty explained.

"I know, Morty," Rick scoffed and rolled his eyes. Who would have thought Morty had the mental capacity to even make that observation? "I was just exaggerating for the sake of bitching. You do it nearly constantly. Figured I'd give it a go. There's something cathartic about a good rant, Morty, even if it isn't one hundred percent factual. That's the point of rants. Just bitching and bitching without remorse. It doesn't matter though. We're not going to Cronenberg prison or any other prison. We're home, and we're fuckin' staying here until I say otherwise, and when I say otherwise, it's sure as hell not gonna be to turn ourselves in and go to any kind of fucking prison in this dimension or any other."

"If we got home this fast using one of their vehicles that means they can come here just as fast as we did though," Morty frowned. "Do you think they know you changed the GPS thing or whatever it was that you did? Do they know yet that we didn't go where they wanted us to? Are they gonna come after us? Maybe they're already on their way..." Morty looked nervously out the garage door and up at the sky. It was night time, so there wasn't much to see.

Rick shrugged. As long as they didn't find out pretty much immediately, and as long as Rick's plan worked out, it wouldn't matter. "I'll sort it all out. You can go to bed or something... Or go have something to eat that isn't sludge and mystery meat... Have a shower with a closed door and nobody else in there with you. I dunno. Do whatever you've been missing while we were in that hell hole."

Morty looked toward the door leading to the house and offered a small, nervous laugh. "I mostly just missed feeling safe," he noted, but didn't make his way toward the door.

Rick stared down at his grandson and frowned. Morty wasn't looking back. He didn't sound angry or bitter. He wasn't complaining or trying to make his grandfather feel bad... He was just making an observation. He missed feeling safe. Rick wondered if Morty felt safe now. He was home again, but they'd still just escaped prison and were at the moment fugitives.

"You can go upstairs, Morty," Rick offered again. "You don't have to worry about any of this shit anymore. From here on, I've got it under control, so just do whatever. Leave the work to me. It's gonna be fine."

Morty nodded slowly, but still didn't head toward the door leading into the house.

Rick exhaled. Considering how much he wished he didn't give a damn about anyone but himself, Rick sure did feel like a failure right now. If it had been just himself in the prison, Rick wouldn't even really be that angry right now. Maybe he wouldn't have even returned home yet. He may have stayed back just to cause more chaos among the prisoners... but Morty being there - and being put into such violent and traumatizing predicaments made Rick's heart hurt. He liked to tell himself he never felt guilty for anything and that everyone on earth and beyond deserved whatever bullshit they got themselves into, but Morty hadn't deserved that, and he hadn't even gotten himself into it. Rick did...

"I gotta work on a couple things sooner rather than later, Morty," Rick explained as he shook those thoughts temporarily out of his head and made his way toward his work bench. "People are gonna come looking for us in the next couple hours or days if I don't fix this stuff fast. I mean, you still don't need to worry. I'm gonna fix it. I'm just saying, I gotta get on it."

Morty nodded and sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the wall and watching Rick.

"What, uh..." Rick frowned. "What are you doin', Morty?" he wondered with a raised eyebrow.

Morty shrugged. "J-just watching..." He frowned. "D-do you want me to leave?" He seemed nervous.

Rick shook his head. "No... You don't have to leave. I'm just gonna be working though. Not much to watch. You can go to bed. I'm just going to be working on this stuff for a little bit and then I'll probably be drinking like a fucking fish. Not exactly somethin' you'll probably want to witness."

"That's okay." Morty offered a small smile as he took off the prison jacket he'd been wearing and carefully folded it up into a neat little rectangle. He placed it on the floor and laid down, using the jacket as a pillow. "I want to stay here for now. I won't get in the way or anything. You can drink or work on whatever. I'll just be over here in the corner. You won't even notice me," he added with a yawn.

Rick frowned as he watched Morty close his eyes. The kid seemed exhausted. He was finally at home, where he could sleep in his own bed, and he was choosing to sleep on the garage floor instead. Rick wondered if the past few days made him fear being alone. Maybe he didn't want to go up to his room by himself. It was irrational, but seemed like something the kid might do. He was jumpy even on a normal day.

Shaking his head, Rick turned toward the bracelet on his arm and made quick work of removing it now that he had tools. As he made the necessary alterations to the bracelet, Rick thought about everything that had happened.

Rick didn't often feel like a failure, and when he did, he pushed that thought right the fuck out of his mind as soon as it started to settle. But he felt absolutely terrible right now. His reckless choices had gotten Morty into trouble yet again, and this time it was a really hard pill to swallow. The kid had been attacked multiple times, by multiple people... Rick always did what he could to keep Morty safe, but he could honestly not think of a single time Morty had been in more danger than Rick had put him in this time.

The boy had been sexually assaulted at least four times, and that was just what Rick knew about. It could have easily been even worse that Rick was made aware of. Morty was scuffed up, scratched and bruised, and seemed to now fear being left alone. The kid had had to fight back, stab someone in the eye... He'd been hurt, threatened, violated, and degraded. Those memories were going to stick with him for life. Morty didn't deserve all that. Not even a little.

Rick really wanted a drink right now, and almost went to find something, but stopped himself. He had more important things to worry about. He had to fix this first. Once he'd done what he needed to do, he could drink every drop of alcohol in the house. Until then, he needed to work carefully and quickly, and devote every bit of his attention to getting this right.

Rick finished altering the bracelet so that it could control other bracelets in the prison. He input the ID numbers of Jacobs, Xirth, Benn, Nedward, Stewart, Earl, and Tony - each of the people who had harmed his grandson in any way - even if their only misdeed was enabling someone else to do so. But he did not move to act out his revenge just yet. Most of the people on his hit-list were already dead... But they wouldn't be for long.

Rick placed the bracelet into a small plastic box - an invention he'd created once when he was experimenting with time-travel. Anything left in the box could not be altered by his travels. If he traveled back in time and changed the past, anything in the box would remain there, even if it shouldn't exist, or shouldn't be in his possession.

Another of his inventions - a time-traveling collar, would allow him to retain memories that would no longer be real after the past was changed. Rick was going to travel back to before he and Morty got caught time-traveling, prevent their past-selves from doing so, and then come back to enact his revenge against the people who hurt his grandson. He needed to retain his memories of their prison sentence for the time-being, so he could be sure to kill everyone who acted against Morty. Changing time would change that these people had gotten killed as a result of Morty's and Rick's presence in the prison, and Rick didn't like that side affect. He wanted them dead.

He wasn't sure it would be entirely moral - as once he changed the past, the people he sought revenge on would no longer be guilty of anything. Changing the past would ensure that he and Morty would have never been arrested. None of the people on his list would have ever hurt Morty since Morty would have never been in contact with them. Only Rick would know what happened, and it wouldn't have actually happened. Rick's memories would become inaccurate, kept in existence only until he removed the collar he'd invented. Once he'd fried the guys from the prison, he'd remove the collar, thus removing any of his memories that were no longer realities.

Before he headed back to the past to fix this colossal mess, Rick glanced over toward his grandson, who slept on the floor against the wall, curled up, with his arms wrapped tightly around himself and his brows furrowed. He didn't look as content as he normally did when he slept. He looked worried. He shivered slightly as he curled in further on himself.

Rick frowned as he stared down at the boy. Sometimes he wondered if he should have kept himself away from Morty. Bringing himself back into his family's lives was so destructive to them. He'd gotten Morty hurt more times than he could count, and he hadn't even been back for that long. He'd even negatively impacted Summer's and Beth's lives without even purposefully getting them as involved in his antics. He was surprised the whole family hadn't told him to fuck off by now.

He walked across the garage floor and found one of his spare lab coats lying over the back of a chair near his workbench. He picked up the coat, walked back over toward his grandson, bent down, and draped the garment carefully over Morty's shoulders. This mess was going to be resolved soon, but that was no reason for Morty to have to be cold in the meantime.

"I'm gonna fix this, Morty," Rick promised in a low voice as he put his hand lightly against his grandson's shoulder before standing back up to his full height. It wasn't possible for an average person to fix stuff like this. Normally what was done was done. Trauma was there to stay. Normal people couldn't take it back. But Rick wasn't normal...

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	15. Chapter 15

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Chapter 15

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Several Days Earlier:

Rick angrily rummaged through his box of time-travel stuff. He didn't often use it. He normally didn't want to deal with the implications of altering the past. That stuff could get real fucked up real fast and wasn't normally worth dealing with... But he also didn't want to pay the parking ticket he'd received in New Xelnar. He didn't feel he deserved to be given said ticket, and was going to make damn sure he was never asked to pay it.

"Hey, Rick." Morty walked into the garage and stared down at his grandfather, who knelt over the cardboard box of time-travel things as he dug around within it. Morty frowned and cocked his head slightly to the side. "What's all that stuff?"

"It's clearly labeled, Morty," Rick scoffed, gesturing toward the side of the box and spelling it out. "Time travel stuff, Morty," Rick told him. "Some asshole gave me a parking ticket in the New Xelnar galaxy. Sons of bitches won't let you park fucking anywhere so there's always free space in front of every god damned building on the planet that no one's making use of. Why would I walk ten damn miles to get someplace I can just part six feet away from? Not my fault their sidewalks are the size of football fields and their parking lots are so fucking far away that you'd get lost for a mother-fucking day between it and where you're going."

Morty stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. "You said that was a parking lot and that no one else was there because it was so early." He frowned. "I knew it was too long and narrow to be a parking lot. I told you not to park there."

"What, are you on their side? It was harmless, Morty." Rick scowled back at the kid. "I'm not paying them shit. If they don't like people parking there, they're gonna have to make more convenient places to park. Those fuckers are intense about their laws though, and I know they're not gonna stop hassling me until I pay it or time travel back to before I fucking parked there."

"Oh." Morty furrowed his brows and grimaced. "Are you sure you wanna travel back in time just for that? I always heard time travel can get real messy, Rick. Doing just one thing differently can change everything in the present... Y-you know, like that story with the dinosaurs and the path and stuff?You could like... you know, step on a butterfly or something and de- you know... destroy the world or whatever. Maybe you should just pay the ticket. What's a little bit of money compared to what changing the past might do..."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Morty?" Rick grumbled. "Fuck the past, and fuck the present too if I'm gonna be reduced to paying fucking parking tickets like a normal person who doesn't have access to a motherfuckin' time machine. Why, Morty, would a man with the ability to travel though actual time let bureaucrats swindle him out of money instead of just using said time machine to get whatever the fuck I want?"

"But it's only money Rick, and in that story, y-you know, the guy didn't mean any harm either. He was just gonna go back to the past for a minute and kill a dinosaur that was gonna die anyway. All he did was step on a butterfly-" Morty objected.

"I don't care about your dumb story, Morty," Rick cut in. "It's a story. This is real. That shit's just science fiction. This is science fact...tion... Er... fact... it's science fact, Morty, so get your dumb little head out of the clouds, stop whining, and let your grandpa fix this shit before I end up owing money to these assholes forever."

Morty stared back at him with a frown. "It's a story, but it could happen," he mumbled.

"They don't need any more of my money, Morty" Rick continued. "I already bought fuel there, and they charge an arm and a leg. Morty, I'm surprised they don't literally start asking for limbs at this point. New Xelnar is the shittiest place in the universe. If I step on a butterfly and destroy their planet, I'll laugh about it all the way home. Fuck them, fuck their parking tickets, and fuck their butterflies."

He started rummaging through his time-travel box again as Morty continued to protest.

"What if it changes something here though?" Morty sounded worried, as usual. "Don't you think we've already screwed things up enough? We've already destroyed our actual planet, Rick... How many times are we gonna tempt fate like that? Eventually, if we're not careful, we're gonna screw something up so bad we won't be able to find a way to undo it... Or... you know... Skip to a different dimension and ignore that we did it."

Rick and Morty both looked up as a purple portal opened up in the middle of the garage and another Rick stepped out. This Rick wore what looked like a New Xelnarnian prison uniform and looked scuffed up and tired.

Rick frowned as he stared at the second Rick. Purple portals meant time-travel, and the uniform he wore told an entire story by itself. This guy was probably about to tell him to not do what he was about to do. Rick was willing to hear himself out, but wasn't sure he was going to take his own advice just yet. He trusted no one but himself - his present-self.

Morty gasped as he watched Future-Rick step out of the portal.

"What did I fuck up now?" Present-Rick sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his future self.

"W-what's going on?" Morty wondered as he stared at Future-Rick. "Are you another dimension's Rick? Is Rick in trouble again?"

Future-Rick stared at Morty for a moment, frowning, narrowing his eyes, and looking almost sad for a half-second. No one knew Rick as well as Rick knew himself, and what he saw in his own self's eyes was troubling. His future self looked even more disturbed than Present-Rick always felt deep down. He must have really fucked something up. The fact that future-Morty wasn't with him was somewhat unsettling too. Rick usually took Morty with him pretty much everywhere. Why hadn't this future version of himself done the same?

"Talk to me alone for a minute," Future-Rick ordered as he looked away from Morty and back toward his past-self.

Present Rick followed himself into the house, looking down at Morty and shrugging when the kid stared up at him with his mouth hanging open and his brow furrowed.

"You can't do what you're about to do," Future-Rick explained in a very matter-of-fact tone once he and himself were alone.

"No shit?" Present-Rick scoffed. He could tell the time-travel he was about to partake in was about to go horribly wrong just due to the fact that Future-Rick in a prison uniform was even here right now. His future self wouldn't have bothered coming back to warn him if there wasn't a reason for it. "I really don't want to pay this parking ticket, so you better have a good fuckin' reason for telling me to go along with New Xelnar's stupid fucking laws. You know me, because you are me... I don't pay parking tickets without a damn good reason."

"You know how New Xelnar bureaucrats are pricks about their laws?" Future-Rick explained.

"Uh, yeah..." Rick was getting tired of himself dancing around answering his fucking question. "They're pricks about everything, Rick. Obviously I know that by the mere fact that I've got a fucking parking ticket that might as well be charging me my actual fucking sould for leaving my car on an empty stretch of nothing for twenty minutes."

"Well, they really don't like time-travel, Rick," Future-Rick explained with an equally frustrated and almost mocking tone.

"No shit. They don't like anything. I'll be careful. They won't catch me," Rick scoffed. "Whatever mistake you made, tell me, and I won't make it."

"Time traveling itself is the mistake, Rick." Future-Rick frowned. "You can't go at all. It's too dangerous. No matter how much you change things up or try not to make certain mistakes, you still run a pretty steep risk of fucking things up so bad it's not even funny. You know how I think fucking things up is funny sometimes?"

Present-Rick laughed. "Ha ha... Yeah. Remember that time? That one-"

"Shut up," Future Rick interrupted. "Just don't time-travel. It won't be funny this time. Not even a little. Can you promise me you won't time-travel? Can you make that fucking promise and actually mean it? It's not gonna be worth it just to get out of a ticket. I'd pay a million tickets to undo what I just fucking went through - and more importantly, what Morty went through."

Rick stared back at himself with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "If time travel is so dangerous, what are you doing here right now? Aren't you worried you'll fuck up things worse?"

"It can't get much worse, Rick. That's why it's worth it this time. You're about to fuck up so bad that you won't care what you risk to fix it. You realize I'm you, right?" Future-Rick looked back with a raised eyebrow of his own.

Rick rolled his eyes. "Well yeah, but-"

"But nothing," Future-Rick interrupted again. "If you time travel, you and Morty will get caught and sent to time-prison. I know you don't want that."

Rick frowned. He'd been to time-prison in New Xelnar before. It wasn't a nice place to be. He certainly didn't want Morty to end up there. "Well, how do we get caught... Maybe I can just-"

"No," Future Rick demanded in a voice so stern it almost scared Present-Rick. "Do not do it. Do not risk it. Just fucking don't. I'm you, you stubborn motherfucker. Listen to me. I'm only like five days out from where you are right now. I'm the same motherfucker you are, only my Morty, the same as yours - that kid back there - the same fucking kid only a couple days from now - has suffered more than you ever want to know. Do not fucking travel through time. Not there. Not in New Xelnar. Just don't. I'm teaching you a fucking lesson Morty and I just had to learn the hard way. Take my fucking advise, you inexperienced past-me sack of shit."

Rick stared at his future self and swallowed nervously. What could have possibly happened to make his future self this upset? Had he gotten Morty killed? Was future-Morty seriously hurt or horribly emotionally scarred? What had Future-Rick gotten the poor kid into? Present-Rick certainly didn't want to do anything that would cause his Morty pain or sorrow... "What happened to your Morty? Is he okay?" Rick wondered with a frown.

Future-Rick shrugged. "Sorta. He's okay now, more or less... but he'll be a lot more okay if you just listen to me. Don't let happen what I just let happen. Don't get him thrown in prison. Even if you're there with him, you won't be able to keep him safe. Just trust me on this."

"W-what happened?" Rick frowned. He didn't want to think about Morty in any sort of danger. It hurt his heart seeing the eyes of his future self, because he could read the emotion there, and could almost feel the guilt radiating off the man identical to him except for a couple extra bruises and a noticeable lack of being at all intoxicated.

Future-Rick shook his head. "Nothing so long as you listen to me. You can pay the parking ticket, or traumatize your grandson for fucking life. Rick, I guarantee you that if you go through with this, you're gonna be time-traveling right back here in a few days, just like I have... Sure, you'll be able to fix it, but for those days you spend in prison, before you can take it back, Morty's gonna suffer... a lot. And who knows? Maybe me coming back here has already changed things enough that you won't get the chance to travel back this time. Maybe your Morty will be stuck with your choices forever, rotting away in a sick, violent, shitty New Xelnar prison until the day he dies. Maybe it'll even be worse, though I'd shudder to think how it could even get much fucking worse than what my Morty has just endured.."

Rick swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded. "Okay... Fine. I'll pay the ticket..." His future-self was kind of disturbing... but his present-self was still kind of annoyed too, so he couldn't help but to add in a little sarcastic comment. "I'll let New Xelnar fuck me over."

Future Rick's shoulders slumped as he stared back, silently warning Rick that he needed to be serious about this.

"I'll pay it, okay? I fucking said I would," Rick scoffed.

"You fucking promise?" Future-Rick scowled at him. He seemed so serious and so fucking desperate.

"Yeah. I fucking promise. God damn." Rick stared at the other version of himself. He looked haunted. He supposed he didn't really need to know the exact details that made himself look so fucked up in the future. A detailed explanation of what pain he could end up causing his grandson if he didn't listen to his future self wasn't really necessary. If paying the ticket would keep Morty from harm, he'd just have to swallow his pride and do it. That's all the information he really needed.

"Good." Future-Rick grabbed his hand and shook it in a very firm grip that was almost painful.

"Holy fuck, self. You're fucking intense." Rick exhaled.

Future Rick shook his head and disappeared back through a new portal identical to the one he'd walked through.

Rick swallowed a lump in his throat and walked back toward the garage. He felt kind of numb, and a little guilty. Whatever he was about to do could have ended rather horribly, apparently. On some level, he wondered what had happened to Future-Morty to make Future-Rick so disturbed. On another level, he could kind of guess, and he didn't like the thought one bit. He knew what kinds of things went down in prisons, and he knew how violent New Xelnar time prisons in particular could be. Knowing that this seemingly small decision he was about to make could have resulted in Morty suffering any number of horrible fates there made him feel kind of sick.

He walked into the garage, ignoring Morty who looked questioningly toward him, and began piling the time-travel components back into the cardboard box he'd stored them in. There was a reason he didn't often use this stuff... His future-self was right when he claimed it was dangerous. Morty was even right - a rarity around here, probably a fluke. Rick shoved the box back on the shelf and turned around.

"What the hell was that, Rick?" Morty frowned up at him. "Was that you from the future? Did you accidentally change history by trying to get out a parking ticket? This is why you shouldn't time-travel, Rick... I told you. I guess it took your own self to finally convince you not to do something reckless. I wish your future-self would come by and stop you from doing crazy stuff more often, Rick, because you sure as hell never listen to me when I warn you of the same thing. I have good ideas and reasoning too, Rick. You could listen to me for a change."

Rick glanced down toward Morty and frowned. The kid had no idea what Rick had almost just gotten him into. He wondered if future-Rick and future-Morty, in the timeline where Rick actually time-traveled were still on speaking-terms. Maybe that's why future-Morty wasn't there... Maybe Rick had screwed him over so badly that the boy wanted nothing to do with him.

"So what did Future-Rick say?" Morty asked. "What ended up happening? What would time-traveling have messed up?"

Rick hesitated. Morty didn't really need to know what Rick suspected would have transpired if he'd gone through with time-traveling. The kid was already jumpy and paranoid. He didn't need to know that he'd almost just gone to time-prison, nor that he most likely would have been assaulted there.

"Did we end up destroying the whole world or something?" Morty wondered.

"No." Rick frowned and walked back to his desk. His potential action hadn't destroyed the whole world. It might have just destroyed his and Morty's, in a metaphorical sense. He didn't want to tell Morty that.

"Was it as bad as when we Cronenberged our original dimension?" Morty asked. "Or was it even worse?" He speculated with wide eyes.

"It was, uh-" Rick hesitated. He knew he should probably answer something if only to get Morty to stop asking, but he didn't want to tell Morty the truth - or rather, his best guess at the truth, since whatever he'd done, even his own future self hadn't wanted to tell him.

"Well, what happened, Rick?" Morty asked again. "It's gotta be something big if he actually changed your mind."

"Somethin about a, uh-" Rick looked down at his hands as he started unscrewing a screw on his latest invention. "You know, a-"

"A what, Rick?" Morty frowned.

"He was bitching about some sports team or something," Rick lied. "We made some team lose something or whatever and it did somethin' and spiraled out of control from there... You know, small things making big differences like that fuckin' grasshopper or whatever you said. All sorts of apocalyptic somethin' or another. I dunno. Wasn't really listening."

"You changed your mind over a sports team you don't even care about?" Morty didn't sound convinced.

"Yeah, Morty," Rick raised an eyebrow and looked back at his grandson. "But you know, not just the team... All that other stuff I said about bugs... The grasshopper or whatever... Just like your story... You were right, Morty. Traveling through time and stepping on bugs is dangerous."

"It was a butterfly, Rick." Morty frowned.

"Hm," Rick shrugged and turned back toward his invention. "Guess you weren't right after all then."

"Whatever, Rick," Morty scoffed and shrugged as he walked toward the door back into the house. "Don't tell me the truth then. I don't care. It was probably something stupid and embarrassing only to you anyway. Not even something worth me having to listen to it. I gotta go do my homework anyway. See ya."

"See ya." Rick waved but kept his eyes on his invention. It was already completed. He was just unscrewing and screwing back in a single screw. He scribbled something down on a post-it note, walked over to the shelf, and shoved the note under the time-travel box he'd invented, the box he could store vulnerable items in when time-traveling in such a way that risked those items existence, or his possession of them. He didn't know if his future self would have been using the box or not, but he bet he would...

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	16. Chapter 16

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Chapter 16

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When Rick returned to the future, the garage was still, dark, and quiet, indicating that he'd returned to the right time, that everyone was still asleep, and hopefully things were back to normal. Morty was no longer asleep on the floor, which hopefully meant that past-Rick had listened to him and the boy was now safely and calmly asleep in his room with no memory of what Rick had made him suffer through. Rick looked down at himself and found that he was no longer dressed in his prison uniform. He had on his usual lab coat, and his flask, nice and full, was right inside it. Things were back to normal. Past-Rick must have listened to him.

Rick breathed out a sigh of relief for Morty's sake and took a long drink from his flask. He'd earned it. The poor kid had been through hell over the past few days, but thanks to Past-Rick actually doing as Present-Rick had suggested, that was no longer the case. Morty hadn't suffered through anything now. At this point, the events of the past days were only a false memory, which only existed in Rick's mind for as long as it took for him to finish his plan, remove his collar, and get back to living his life.

He walked over to the time-safe box where he'd stored his prison bracelet and removed it. He had a small list of people to get even with. Even if in this reality they hadn't hurt his grandson at all, Rick knew they were capable of it. He knew they would if they could, and he was going to get rid of them, both because he hated what they could have been and because he didn't want them to hurt anyone else like they would have hurt Morty. Whether they were technically guilty of anything or not, New Xelnar didn't need them. The other prisoners would be better off without these people posing a possible threat. The entire universe would be better with them no longer in it.

He gripped the bracelet in his hand and searched his memory for the prisoner ID numbers he'd memorized while creating this plan. He selected the ID number belonging to Stewart first, and input it into the bracelet. Pressing the button would shock the man. Holding the button down would shock him more. Holding it down longer would kill him and fry him to a crisp. Rick thought back to what each of the men had done, even if at this point, they hadn't really done it. He kept in mind why each of them deserved punishment.

Stewart had helped hold Rick down while Xirth hurt Morty. Stewart had known that Xirth was going to rape Rick's grandson, and he held the man down anyway. He was going to allow that to happen without any remorse. Rick pressed the button and held it. He held it long and hard. The bracelet seemed to tingle in his hand as he squeezed it and gladly ended Stewart's life.

Rick took another very long drink from his flask, quickly emptying it. He tucked it back into his jacket and found another bottle of hard alcohol he had lying around. He took a swig from that and then moved on to his second target.

Next was Nedward. Nedward had been willing to force Rick to give him a blow-job. That was annoying, but what was worse was the fact that he'd commented about forcing Morty to do the same. Rick input his ID number and held the button down. He held it long enough to run the entire memory through his head, of Nedward holding him back while Xirth molested his grandson. Nedward deserved the death Rick was granting him. He deserved worse, but this was the best Rick could do.

With each person Rick killed, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. Never had killing a bunch of people with the push of a button been so satisfying. These guys couldn't hurt anyone now, ever again. Rick took another large gulp from the bottle and moved on.

Rick selected Tony's ID number next and held down the button. As far as he understood, Tony hadn't ever done much, but just the fact that he was willing to allow Jacobs to hurt Morty was good enough reason to kill him in Rick's mind. Tony had even pretended to be friends with him and Morty, which made it even worse that he didn't care if Morty was assaulted. If there was one thing Rick detested more than someone fucking him over, it was someone who'd fuck him over while smiling and telling him they were on his side. Morty had trusted this man... Rick had even almost trusted him. What Tony had done was unforgivable.

Rick let up the button, took another drink and selected Earl's number, pressing the button down again and holding it. Earl had held Morty down while Xirth molested the boy. That was pretty cruel, and worthy of a painful death as far as Rick was concerned. Anyone who would hold down a child while someone else raped him didn't need to go on living.

And that thought led him to Benn - one of the most disgusting people Rick had ever met - a rapist who was proud to be a rapist, who flaunted that fact like it was a trophy. Rick pressed the button down and held it longer than he had with the others. The bracelet tingled and then seemed to even violently vibrate as Rick held the button down longer and longer. Benn had held Morty down, touched him and hurt him, and would have done much worse if given the chance. Rick wanted to make extra sure that he held the button down long enough to kill this one for sure.

As he held down his hand on the bracelet and took another couple drinks, he wondered what things looked like at the prison right now. Five people now had randomly been viciously shocked to death (hopefully - if Rick's calculations were correct) and they likely had no idea why. They didn't have the connection to Rick and Morty. Not anymore. Not now that the past had been altered. A lot of weaker prisoners were probably going to be so relieved by this. Glarcx and Martin would probably be sad, since Tony was their friend and they never knew there was anything wrong with him. People wouldn't understand all of this - they wouldn't all know that it was for the good of anyone who might be a vulnerable, easy target for these sick fucks...

Maybe it would even lead to the prison no longer using the shock-bracelets, since they'd assume all of the ones Rick had taken control of had malfunctioned. Maybe then the guards would have to actually do their jobs instead of relying on cheap technology. These things were painfully easy for Rick to over-ride and take control of. The prisoners were lucky someone like Rick hadn't done it sooner and fried every fucking person in there.

Rick finally let up and put in Xirth's number. He made sure to give this guy an extra long shock too. Even if there was a small chance he hadn't actually killed the others, he was going to make damn sure he killed these last few. Benn, Xirth, and Jacobs deserved death more than anyone.

Rick narrowed his eyes as he held his hand firmly over the bracelet, which seemed warmer now and made a buzzing noise as Rick over-used it, silently killing a man who would have hurt his grandson, but who his grandson actually never met. It wasn't until now that he noticed a slip of paper under the box that he'd stowed the bracelet in. Rick placed his alcohol on the shelf. With his now-free hand, he reached out and pulled the paper from under the box. It was just a small post-it note. He read it silently to himself:

"Rick. Thanks for telling me.

~Rick."

Rick smiled to himself. Still holding down the button, he took out a pen and scribbled another note onto the post-it, on the other side. He knew he wouldn't remember any of this once he removed the collar he was wearing. He didn't want to remember, but he also didn't want to forget the danger this had put Morty in. This wasn't a mistake he wanted to make ever again.

He input one last number, the ID number belonging to Jacobs into the bracelet, and forcefully pressed the button down.

"Rick?" Morty's tired voice called from the doorway into the house.

Rick turned around. Morty looked like he'd just been woken up. He looked tired and annoyed as he yawned and rubbed his eyes. He was wearing yellow pajamas and white slippers - not the prison uniform he'd had on before.

"W-what are you doing out here?" Morty wondered.

Rick shrugged. "Nothing." Rick fought with his voice to not sound defensive. "W-what're you doing out here, M-Morty?" He asked back, stumbling over his words as the affects of the alcohol weighed on him.

"The lights inside are flickering... Are you messing with the electricity?" Morty grumbled with a yawn.

Rick stared at his grandson and then down at the bracelet in his hand. It wasn't connected to their house's electricity, but maybe it was somehow interfering. It was certainly making a lot of noise and movement at this point, and was even beginning to smoke.

"W-why are you out here in the dark?" Morty wondered as his eyes settled on the bracelet in Rick's hand. "What's that?"

Rick looked down at his hand again. He was still pressing the button down. He'd held this one extra, extra long. "Just somethin' I've been experimenting with. It evaporates trash."

"Oh, uh... That's cool." Morty yawned. "I think it's kinda fucking up the electricity though? Could you work on it while I'm not trying to sleep? My lights keep going on and off. I'm just tryin' to sleep, Rick," Morty complained. "I- you know, I've got school in the morning. I'm trying to actually pass, Rick. I can't keep falling asleep in math every day. I'm already behind."

Rick nodded, but kept the button held down. "H-how you doin' right now, Morty?" Rick wondered. "You feeling alright?"

Morty frowned at him.

"You doin' good, Morty? You feeling safe in here and everything?" Rick wondered. He'd probably taken a few too many swigs from his flask and the bottle, as he could see Morty was looking confused by his words. He knew that wasn't a great idea, drinking so much, especially not before a small murdering spree... But he never let things that weren't good ideas stop him from doing them before... He just wanted to make double-sure everything was back to normal, that Morty hadn't experienced the things Rick still remembered, but that were hopefully no longer real. He had to make sure Morty was okay now.

"Yeah..." Morty furrowed his brows. "Why?"

"Nothing," Rick shrugged. "Hey, do you know if I ever paid that New Xelnar parking ticket?" He laughed nervously. "You know... that one... Ha ha... Uh- that we got about four or five days ago? You know... For parking on the sidewalk?"

Morty groaned. "I don't know, probably. Will you stop messing with that thing so I can get some sleep for once?"

Rick shrugged and let go of the bracelet when it seemed to start to burn his hand. He'd fried Jacobs extra long. He stomped on the bracelet when it caught fire on the garage floor.

"Geeze, Rick..." Morty frowned, staring down at the blackened device on the floor. "Maybe you shouldn't be experimenting with stuff like that, you know, like in the dark... while you're wasted..."

Rick laughed and put his hand up to his collar. He was ready for these memories to be gone. None of it had really happened. Not after he fixed it with the very science that had caused the mess in the first place. There was no reason for him to retain any of this in his mind. He had enough regrets and guilt in the back of his mind. He didn't need this too - not after he'd fixed it all anyway.

Unclasping the collar, Rick took it off his neck and looked down at it in confusion. He blinked a few times as he stared down at his hand and at the collar he was holding. He was familiar with this device, but he didn't remember deciding to use it. He blinked again as he stared down at his invention. What was he doing with this? He looked over toward Morty, who was standing in the garage doorway leading into the house. He looked tired. "Did we just time-travel?" Rick wondered.

Morty stared at him. "What are you talking about, Rick?" he whined and rubbed his eyes. "Did you take some kind of drugs?"

Rick frowned. "I feel like I'm missing something, Morty..." He knew what this collar was used for. He'd invented it after all... But he hadn't used it much, and it seemed to leave him feeling very confused. That was the point though - it was used during time travel, to retain memories until they were no longer needed. Whatever he'd just done, he purposefully chose to not allow himself to remember it. It must have had something to do with that visit from future-Rick a few days back.

Since he hadn't used the collar much (he tried to avoid time travel due to all the ways it could go wrong,) he wasn't fully used to its side-affects. Apparently syncing back up with the original timeline wasn't as smooth as he would have hoped. He wasn't even sure what he was doing out here in the garage. He didn't remember coming out here - of course, that wasn't necessarily anything new. His heavy recreational drug and alcohol use had him failing to recall things all the time.

He looked back at Morty. "How long have I been out here?" he asked. "We do anything today?"

Morty shrugged and shook his head as he stared back with a frown. "What? What do you mean? It's night time... We did all sorts of stuff... Did you forget an entire day? W-what are you talking about, Rick?"

Rick exhaled. He wondered if he should tweak his time-travel collar to allow him to retain memories if he wore it longer... But then, maybe whatever he was missing was gone for a reason. Maybe he'd be better off never knowing what might have been. His future-self, which was, he supposed, now his present-self, had seemed so disturbed... Disturbed even for Rick-standards.

"It's fine," Rick breathed out as he looked over at his grandson again. "I'm missing some shit in my mind, but I don't think I need it back. Whatever."

"You're drunk, Rick," Morty sighed. "Maybe stoned or something too. That's why you feel like you're missing something."

Rick nodded. He definitely was drunk, but that wasn't the problem. He looked down when he noticed he was gripping a post-it note in his other hand. He looked at it and read it silently to himself. It was written in his own handwriting:

"Rick. Thanks for telling me.

~Rick."

"What the fuck?" he muttered to himself. He remembered writing this... He wrote it to future-Rick when the man had returned to warn him not to time-travel... But why was he holding it now? He turned the note over. Something was written on the back as well:

"No more time traveling.

I fucking mean it."

Rick stared at the note. He must have really fucked something up to have to write a note to himself after all the time-travel warnings and the collar and everything. He remembered a few days ago when future-Rick had come back and warned him against time-travel, and so he didn't end up doing it. He definitely had caught up with future Rick in the timeline just now. Now they were one and the same, but with only the memories of reality. The collar had taken away all his memories that were no longer real. He kinda wished he knew what they were, but judging by the note and the collar, he must have not wanted to remember. He could have made the note more detailed, but he hadn't. It seemed the other time-line's version of himself had done everything he could to prevent actual Rick from remembering anything he'd done.

He tossed the note into his time-travel stuff box as a reminder and looked back toward Morty, who still looked confused as he stood in the doorway.

"Why don't you come inside and sleep for once, Rick," Morty suggested. "Maybe if you're asleep, you won't keep screwing up the lights and I can sleep for once too. I bet Mom and Dad and Summer are gonna start getting mad too. Their lights were probably flickering just as much as mine were. Y-you know, we don't mind you experimenting with whatever and stuff, but you've gotta let us sleep sometimes..."

Rick nodded. He didn't know for sure what Morty was referring to, but he was tired. he knew that much. He followed Morty into the house and they each when their to their separate bed rooms.

Rick laid down in his bed and stared at the ceiling. He wasn't sure what his time traveling and not time traveling had just remedied, but he had a feeling he'd originally fucked up majorly. At least he'd had the good sense to fix it though. He always did.

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THE END

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End file.
